Mishal Raheja is set to play the parallel lead in Zee TV’s popular show Kumkum Bhagya. The Shabbir Ahluwalia-Sriti Jha series is going to take a seven-year leap in the coming weeks. Mishal, who will start shooting for his part in the next few days says that he is playing the character of a Punjabi rockstar who lives in London.
“He is a successful, happy and jovial musician. It’s quite different from what I have played before,” he says. There are several Punjabi rockstars in Bollywood, did he follow anyone in particular? “No; I am trying not to. I like doing my own stuff with a new style,” says the actor who liked Honey Singh in the past.
Why did he choose an old show, running for five years, instead of going for a new one? Mishal replies, “Because it’s an established show, and a Balaji one. I have been wanting to work with Ekta ma’am for quite sometime now and they were offering me a parallel lead. Also, it’s a hit show, already number two in the country, so I didn’t have to worry about whether it will work.”
Creating a niche is, however, a challenging job in an already established show. People have already accepted Abhi and Pragya. But Mishal isn’t bothered. He says, “Like I said, the fact that it’s an already established show is lucky for me. Having said that, actors have to work hard, whether it’s a new show or old. You have to do your background work, rehearse a lot to get into the skin of the character, and understand the character. All this depends on how much I work on it.”
Speaking of his collaboration with Ekta Kapoor, he says that he had met her once. “I had expressed my desire to work with her because Balaji is the number one production house in the country. She has given me a great opportunity,” he says.
Mishal’s last show Ishq Ka Rang Safed went off air in 2016 and it took him two years to sign his next. “I was invited by a Grammy award winner Hollywood producer to record some music. I was in America recording music. I sang, shot the music video. I had to also train myself because for the first time I was getting into music,” he says, adding, “It was pure luck that I got to play this character in Kumkum Bhagya soon after making my singing debut.”