MUMBAI: Actor Dheeraj Dhoopar recently made a comeback to Zee TV, where Kundali Bhagya is aired. The name of his new program on the channel is Rabb Se Hai Dua. It centers on challenging the idea of polygamy within the Muslim community and is based on that culture. The show has begun airing, and Dheeraj talked with the popular news portal about his reasons for playing the part of Subhaan Siddiqui, the controversial theme the show explores, his weaknesses on the small screen, and what has kept him away from Bollywood for so long.

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In his most recent program, Dheeraj has opted to portray a serious role following his six-year stint with Kundali Bhagya. Speaking on the same, he said, “I am working very hard to make that place in people’s hearts once again. I want this character to get loved more than Karan Luthra. Since the last few years, there has been an effort from my end to play different kinds of roles, be it in Tatlubaaz or Saubhagyawati Bhava. I want to explore myself as an actor. I played Karan Luthra for 6 years, before that also I was a doting son or a doting husband, so I wanted to do something different. Earlier people would call me the SRK of TV, now with this character, they are calling me the Salman Khan of Indian TV.”

Considering how Rabb Se Hai Dua questions the concept of multiple marriages in the Muslim community, when asked if there was skepticism considering the sensitivity of the subject, Dheeraj shared, “I don’t think about all those aspects. There are legal and creative teams for that, nothing will go out of control. People will understand where we are coming from. This is purely a fictional story. I never played a Muslim character, so doing namaz, and learning Urdu is a very new space for me and I am enjoying it.”

After his sudden exit from Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa last year due to a knee injury, Dheeraj Dhoopar had very short-lived stints on Sherdill Shergill and Saubhagyawati Bhava. Explaining what went wrong and how it is not easy to please the audience today, Dheeraj opined, “We didn’t get good numbers for both the shows. Sherdill Shergill was a very new-age concept. Everybody was excited, but it didn’t work. The audience couldn’t understand a single mother concept. I was very excited to play a grey character in Saubhagyawati Bhava, but we didn’t get the numbers so they had to pull the plug.”

He added, “Today, it is very difficult to please the audience. 10 to 12 years ago, social media was not so strong, and there were no OTT platforms, but now the audience is very aware. They watch international content, and after watching shows like that, why would they want to see something that is average? I am talking about all shows in general. A lot of shows don’t work because the audience doesn’t want to watch anything that is repeated. Also, attention span is smaller. If they like you at the start and the next scene they don’t like you, they switch the channel. It’s difficult to hold their attention now.”

Around 2019, Dheeraj was venturing into films, and while he chose to move to the Punjabi industry, things didn’t quite materialize there. Opening up on the same, he said, “Making a career in the Punjabi film industry has always been the plan, but the timing was bad. When we did a recce for my first film as a producer and actor, everything was finalized and Covid happened. Then we saw what went down in Bollywood. Imagine those films were not doing well, so what would happen in Punjab? So I took a break to get back when the time was right.”

Dheeraj opens up on what kept him away from entering Bollywood all this while and added, “All TV actors have a wish to come on the big screen, I also do, but I will not switch mediums just for the sake of it. If I get something as good as what I do on TV, then I might take it up. Whatever I am today is because of TV and I respect that. I did a web show that became a superhit, but I also did TV simultaneously. Now I am shooting for Tatlubaaz 2 while I am working on this show. I want to create that kind of space for me where I am working on all mediums simultaneously.”

Dheeraj Dhoopar does not believe in the idea of stopping. The actor claims that while he enjoys being on set, being a father is what he truly loves. Dheeraj mentioned how spending time with his son Zain helps him relax. He stated, “When I am around Zain, all I want to be is a father. I am not a star or an actor that time. We had our first child after six years and now we think we should have planned it earlier.”

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Credit- The Indian Express