Nikhil Mehta who plays the funny and interesting character Piddi on Channel [V]’s The Buddy Project (Sunshine Productions) is nowhere close to the confused guy he looks on the show. He is one multi talented person, as apart from his superb acting talent this guy is a trained classical musician and plays most of the rhythm based instruments. Nikhil had no plans of being an actor, but a visit to Mumbai just changed his fate, as he avers, “During one of my vacations to Mumbai from Delhi, I just fell in love with the place. And after coming back, I forced my dad to let me go to Mumbai to learn classical music which was my only interest back then.” So at the age of just 14, he flew down to never go back. “I got myself admitted to Suresh Wadekar’s institute and got started with my music training (he is a trained table player). But then the classes were only twice a week, so I started getting bored. Someone suggested that since I have the right look, I should give auditions for ads and serials. After some struggle I did my first ad which was a montage for a mobile brand.” The treatment he received on this first ad - with the spot boy moving around on his call, car dropping him home - made him feel like Shah Rukh Khan. And then came the biggest break- the Cadbury Dairy Milk ad (shubh arambh) which made him a popular face and then there was no looking back. He has till date done close to 40 advertisement and some appearances on various shows. But his most popular character has been Piddi, and as the actor says, “It is a great feeling to be loved so much by fans. I get calls from people all around the world and it is overwhelming to become a known face in such a short time span.” The actor, who was fascinated with magical shows like Son Pari and Shaka Laka Boom Boom in his childhood days, says he is quite different from his character. “Indeed the naughtiness is there, but I am more controlled and mature as a person than what I portray on screen. Having said this, I would love to do various other types of roles, but it should have a fun element to it,” states he. Nikhil apart from music and acting is also interested in direction, and hopes to go abroad and get a formal training for the same. On work front he says he would like to get success only through his hard work. As he adds, “I do not believe in short cuts and I have worked day and night to reach this position; and it is just a percent of what I want to do. There is still a very long way to go.” The actor is still attached to his first love as he had recently composed some songs for his show (TBP2), which sadly could not be used due to a differ in mood with the scenes. “The rap that Piddi recently did was also dubbed by me. I so wish to do a show sometime, where I can display my singing and music prowess.” Nikhil is also very keen to do the most controversial reality show as he says, “I wish someone approaches me for Bigg Boss, I would love to be a part of it this season.” But as of now, he is happy being a part of his show, and in future he says, he will love to do a fun film, especially something on Delhi ‘guy-fun’ on the lines of Fukrey.