Career Toss

He followed his brother to the IIT…and his heart to the entertainment industry. “After passing class XII I lived up to family expectations qualifying the IIT entrance like my brother did earlier,says Kunal Bhatia,B Tech Civil Engineering from IIT Delhi,who plays the lead role in Sajan Ghar Jaana Hai,the Star Plus serial that goes on air from August 5. He was in the city on Friday along with co-actors. “In the course of studies,I kept participating in dramatics and that’s when I realised I was cut out for acting,” says the actor,who convinced his family and shifted to Mumbai where he had a job in an insurance company,till he was selected in theauditions for the serial. “There is no Plan B…that’s the only way I can make Plan A successful!” smiles the clean-cut boy-next-door poised to win hearts in a story about a village head’s son who is forced to dump his beloved wife who belongs to a lower caste for someone from the community.

“I was spotted by the director inflight,” says former air hostess Neha Saxena who will play the wife forced to leave and driven back into her husband’s house to serve as a maid. “My brother lives in Mumbai and gave me all out support to give it a shot,” says the Agra girl,who learnt whatever acting she knows on the sets. “I don’t think the story is archaic. This kind of a thing is happening in rural India even in the present day,” says the girl still not out of her teens.

“On clearing the auditions,there was ample support from family. I convinced them that I would take care of studies along with acting,” says 16 years old Jhalak Desai,class XI student,who plays the second wife.