Not many know that while Shiv Thakare is all set to head to participate in Khatron Ke Khiladi 13 his nani and aai are the ones who are boasting his morale. The Free Press Journal caught up with him for an exclusive chat. Excerpts:
You hail from a village called Amaravati. Could you tell us something about your life before you entered showbiz?
I had a paan tappri and also sold crackers during Diwali. Observing people I learnt a lot and gained confidence there itself. My confidence rose because I did various businesses while living in my village. People from all walks of life came to my paan tappri – educated and uneducated as well. In Rome you need to behave as Romans do. I have never walked ahead with low confidence.
After tasting success in Bigg Boss (Marathi) as well as its Hindi version, now you are participating in KKK 13. How does it feel?
My success has just begun through my hard work. I will work doubly hard with good intentions and try to be better at whatever I choose to do.
How do you look at being associated with reality shows one after the other?
It’s like you wish to get work in films on the big screen. But for that, you have to keep waiting as nothing is coming your way. Obviously, whatever is coming your way you will not let it go. And whatever you are getting go ahead and do it. Maybe earlier there was a conception that if you do reality shows or work in TV you may not get work in an acting career and are tagged as a reality show actor but such tags can be broken.
How did you get to participate in KKK?
When Rohit (sir) Shetty visited the sets of Bigg Boss, he asked me, ‘Would you like to contest in KKK?’ I was excited and said yes. This was already a wish list.
What are the criteria on which you have been selected? What are your fears?
Living in Amravati I was dreaming big. This was the biggest khatra as I have left my engineering degree lying at home. I have already taken these khatras in this entire life of mine. This is another show where I will get to experience something which I haven’t done in my life. It’s interesting also as we have a principal like Rohit sir who pushes you to do better and mentor you. We rarely find someone in life who really helps you progress like we had Salman sir (Khan) in Bigg Boss who helped us solve our problems.
Go on…
I am feeling lucky that Rohit sir is our mentor. I just want to do everything myself in a sleek way. Also, Rohit sir just says, ‘Wah’. He should not feel the need to push me to complete any task. I should be smart enough to complete everything on my own.
What difference did you notice about girls in this show?
I have seen Divyanka (Tripathi Dahiya) and Jannat (Zubair Rahmani) doing better stunts than the men contestants. There is a competition about boy/girl. I am sure every contestant will go with the view of performing their best. I just wish main sabse thoda jyada perform karoon.
Will you compete with yourself or are you going to compete with others or are you determined to win?
Obviously, I want to win. If I keep saying I want to win then it dilutes it. I have loads of fire inside me. When you perform well, only then you are deserving. Right now, I don’t want to share anything but after reaching out there I need to give my best and perform the best. The rest depends on how I perform.
What is the new theme in KKK 13?
This time the theme is Jungle. You have all kinds of junglee janwar there. I really feel scared. I am scared of water, heights, but when it comes on me to do something and I have a do or die kind of attitude.
Who do you fear to have the toughest competition?
I feel I have competition with all the contestants.
