Karan Wahi on doing TV drama after 6 years: 'Changing medium helps immensely'

Karan Wahi is a popular name in the telly world, thanks to his fiction shows like Remix and Dill Mill Gayye. But in the last few years, his fans saw him participating in reality shows or hosting them instead of playing a fictional character. Along the way, he also explored films and the web space. Now he's back on the TV screen playing a character which he hopes the audience falls in love with.

Channa Mereya has him playing chef Aditya, who wants to be the best in his field. In fact, he got so immersed in it that he ended up with a cut on his finger.

Before getting on the call for an interview with Firstpost, he was busy putting a band-aid at the tip of his finger.

"I got too 'enthu' and got my first gift. Ye chefgiri ka pehla cut hai," says the actor, who learnt how to cook during the lockdown.

"Cooking is something that the entire world learnt during the lockdown. Before the lockdown, I never felt the need for cooking. I know how to cook a little bit, but being a chef is a completely different ballgame," says Wahi.

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In fact, he took some help from chefs, including Vikas Khanna. "Chef Vikas Khanna is like an elder brother. He is such a sweet person and is always helping. He told me about my attire, how to hold a dish, and told me to do as much as I can," says Wahi.

Channa Mereya is more than just about food and cooking. He describes the show as a romance drama that has two protagonists who are chefs.

"One cooks in a dhaba and the other is eyeing to be the best chef. We begin the show with a chef competition. Both have their own ways then they bump into each other. He wants to open a restaurant. She already has a dhaba.

"The place that he wants to open the restaurant happens to be the place of her father who is no more. And it means a lot to her. That's the conflict, but eventually they will come together through the constant thing they love which is cooking," he says about the show that also stars Niyati Fatnani.

The daily soap also features Puneet Issar, who shot to fame after playing Duryodhan in BR Chopra’s TV show Mahabharat.

"Most of my scenes are with Puneet sir and Niyati right now. It's been fun. We have grown up watching Puneet sir. He is as strong as ever. It's fun to be around him," he says.

Wahi feels glad he has a nice team, and now he just hopes that viewers love the show too.

"I am excited to be back on the TV screen after a really long time. I hope people like this," says the actor, whose last fiction TV show was Kahani Hamari...Dil Dosti Deewanepan Ki (2016).

Over the years, he did reality shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Nach Baliye, Indian Idol and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi as either a contestant or a host.

In the web world, Wahi was recently seen in Never Kiss Your Best Friend season 2. "Changing medium... I think it helps immensely. When you work on the same medium, sometimes what happens is that you get restricted because there isn't probably too much scope of doing certain things," he says.

"It can be TV, web or films. When I went away from fiction TV shows, I learnt something new and with time, I worked on those things. Now after experiencing TV, films and web, it's fun," adds the actor, who did films like Daawat-e-Ishq and Hate Story 4.

Now he knows what all things he likes and what he wants to be a part of.

"Now I know what I can bring to the table, but it's not that if you step away from TV you will find something new. Eventually you want to work on something that you'll enjoy, and it could be on any of the three mediums. I feel it shouldn't be too much of an issue in your head," he says.

Now he's just chasing good work rather than the medium. "I don't want to restrict myself to a medium. While doing TV, I can also do a web series. Now it's more about what I am doing rather than where I am doing. I feel that films will be very special to a lot of people, including me. We all want to be seen on 70 mm screen," he says.

"But films are now coming on OTT more than theatres. So it completely depends on what I get offered. If there's something (a film) that I really like and I can do then why not," he adds.

Natalia Ningthoujam is a Manipur-based journalist. She knows how to smoothly switch from being a fan to a writer whenever needed. She tweets at @nattynick.

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