Vishal Vashishtha, who is today a household name enacting the character of Baldev in Star Plus’ popular show Ek Veer Ki Ardaas…Veera (Beyond Dreams Productions), had in fact rejected the role when it initially came to him. Talking about the same, the good looking guy avers, “Initially I was really skeptical whether I will be able to pull off Baldev’s character. To tell you frankly, I was apprehensive even after I signed for the show. But thankfully I have managed to find my ground and I am happy to see that Baldev has been accepted by one and all.” Sharing an incident from the sets Vishal relates, “Quite recently, my casting director was on the sets and he teased me asking ‘mazaa aa raha hai na’. I just nodded my head and thanked him for seeing Baldev in me (smiles). Today I feel blessed to be playing this character.” Tell him how young girls have become his fans and he shoots back, “It always feels good to be appreciated and it’s definitely a great feeling. Also, it increases my confidence as I see Baldev getting such a good response even after being a bad boy. I just thank those people out there for loving me; hope they will continue to do so.” So what are the basic qualities of this character that attracted him? “Well, firstly although being the ‘angry young man’, Baldev has so much comical work to do. In fact he is bringing out a lot many emotions at any given point always. During the wedding sequence of Ranvi (Shivin Narang) and Gunjan (Farnaz Shetty), Baldev was a bundle of energy reacting to the situations in so many ways. So portraying various emotions in one character is challenging and so it’s fruitful for me as an actor,” informs Vishal. The boy from Kolkata is now well settled in the city of dreams, and says his on screen family has momentarily become his real family. “All of us share an awesome chemistry and it is fun to be around such people. Recently Devesh (Ahuja), who played the younger Baldev, was on the sets and it was a good experience meeting him too. Everyone on the sets is very friendly and we have a fabulous time shooting,” the actor observes. We further asked Vishal how different does he find doing a dramatic daily show from the days of his earlier youth show Crazy Stupid Ishq. Smilingly he quips, “Since it was my first show and the cast was quite a new one, we were the ‘baaps’ and had full-on masti on the sets. Now I have a much more experienced cast around; so we are like kids who are getting to learn a lot from them. So certainly, it’s very different, but both have been superbly amazing experiences.” Well Vishal, we hope you continue to have an amazing time in your show.