I got a call from the casting director of Veera at 3 am saying that I was finalised for the show

Ankit Bathla has almost completed a full circle with his latest Star Plus show Veera.

Yes, the actor, who is currently seen as Karan in this Beyond Dreams project, has an interesting fact to reveal. “With Veera, I have covered all the channels across the GECs and am quite happy about it. Now I just need a show on Sony (laughs),” he avers.

Yes, that’s very true!

Let’s have a look at the shows and the channels that this actor has worked with earlier. DD National-Sammaan Ek Adhikaar, Hum, Zee TV-Bhagowali, Sahara One-Mata Ki Chowki, Colors- Hamari Saas Leela, Imagine TV-Haar Jeet and Big Magic Beta Hi Chahiye.

So did the actor take up this show just to put a tick mark on another channel or did he really like the role? “I really like this character. It’s a happy-go-lucky guy more like me in real life. So, it’s not like I really have to act in Veera,” Ankit answers.

Ask him about his bonding with his co-stars to which he promptly replies, “Digangana (Suryavanshi – Veera), Vishal (Vashishtha – Baldev) and I have become buddies. We usually chat in the same room together. Since, I am one person who is mad about carrying lots of food with me on the sets, I keep taking along with me their favourite dishes as well. Digangana has fallen in love with my pudine ki chatni. Since she is also a very good singer we ask Digangana to croon a song every now and then. In fact, we also keep on joking about her American accent. As an affect of the regular taunting, she now makes a conscious effort to talk the Indian way (laughs).”

Have you got any compliments for your role yet? “Yes, a lot of people have told me that they love my smile a lot while there are many who have warned me. The messages they send say ‘don’t be nasty to Veera’,” he observes.

Interestingly, this show fell into Ankit’s lap in the middle of the night. “It so happened that one night after shooting for an episodic of Savdhan India I got back home and was sleeping. I was alarmed at 3 am when my phone started buzzing. The person on the other end was this casting director who told me that I was finalized to play Karan in Veera. Thanking him I went back to sleep again thinking that he was pulling a fast one on me. I knew it very well that one can’t bag a role without giving a look test. But the next day he called up and briefed me saying that I would have to take a night flight to Delhi that very day. Amazed I couldn’t believe that it was actually happening till I found myself in Delhi trying clothes that did not fit me well. This was because Shakti Arora was to initially play this role but since he fell ill I was roped in at the last minute. So on the whole this entire Veera journey was a kind of mystery,” Ankit reveals.

The actor had also auditioned for this show two years ago as he goes on to relate, “Initially when Veera was about to air, I had auditioned for it but was not able to make an inroad then. But after two years I did get a chance to do the show. I am very happy also because this happens to be the favourite show of my mom and dadi.”

Keep up the good work Ankit!!!