Rishabh Sinha: If I manage to make some name in the industry, I will owe my success to Karan bhai…

Tall and handsome Rishabh Sinha, better known as the MTV Splitsvilla boy, has come a long way from doing a reality show to bagging Zee TV’s Qubool Hai (4 Lions Films).

And lady luck has always shined on this young lad. For his MTV show, he just accompanied his friend for the auditions but ended up being selected. “I was a part of Splitsvilla season 5 ever since my pictures have been on Google. So one fine day, when Gul Khan (producer/director) Ma’m was searching for India’s most good looking men, she came across my picture. And she felt that it was someone like me whom she wanted as Ayan. So, she somehow got my number and called me,” said Rishabh.

He further added, “When I was called, the first thing I told her was that I haven’t watched many serials and also informed her that though I could act, I did not know the techniques. That’s when she started telling me about Ayan and I knew it was me.”

You never had to audition for shows? “I did give a lot of auditions after Splitsvilla. The response too was good, but they always told me that I needed to learn the technique. I did not know how to learn the technique then. But later, I realised that technique is all about looking real. I auditioned for Qubool Hai and Gul mam also liked.”

Talking about his on-screen character, the actor shared, “My character Ayan has different flavours and not shades. Either he is too happy or too sad. He always follows his heart or listens to his brother (being played by Karan Singh Grover (KSG). Ayan has a heart of gold and lives for his family and friends. And, he just has two mottos in life. The first one is to get a beautiful girl in his life while the second is to unite his family as there are differences in it.”

So how much are you like Ayan? “I am Ayan and that is one reason why when I go on the sets, my director never tells me to get into the character that I am playing. In fact, she says Rishabh you are on.” After a little pause, he added, “I have never done anything mechanically. In fact, there is this scene in the promos where you see me and Karan talking to each other. That scene was a general conversation that I and Karan bhai were having that Gul mam captured.”

Are you learning Urdu to fit well into the character of Ayan? “Since we are in a secular country, we know certain words of every language. I have friends who are Muslims so I do know a bit of Urdu. But yes, I do work on my pronunciations and also try picking up the tone. So the audience will get a flavour of Urdu in the show but it will definitely not be Umrao Jaan style,” Rishab remarked.

In this short period of time that Rishabh has known KSG, he has managed to create a special bond with him, as he observed, “Karan bhai is very dear for me and he is like an elder brother. I always feel like I have his hands on my head (blessings). Karan bhai always stands for me. In fact, at times when we have back-to-back shoots and I want thirty minutes of sleep I just go to his room and sleep as nobody comes to Karan bhai’s room.”

Aren’t you scared of being overshadowed by KSG? “Since Asad and Ayan are brothers, there is no point of being overshadowed. In fact, on the first day of my shoot, I had to shoot with Karan. When I reached, he was standing on the sets. So, I went to him and said namaste and hugged him. Then, he did not know that I was to play Ayan but for me he was a known face. But he was very down to earth person. As a matter of fact, he told me that, ‘tu bade dil se gale milta hai’ to which I replied, ‘main aisa hi hoon.’ This is when I told him that I’d be playing Ayan. From there on, we had no looking back. So my competition is with me as I haven’t done anything yet. And if I manage to make some name in the industry, it will be because of Karan bhai. I will owe him my success completely.”

Do you’ll hang out together? “Yes, we do and every time we are out, I tell him, ‘you are old busted and I am a new hotness,’ and he laughs.”

Are you dating somebody? “I am very much single at the moment but my last count was 47 (laughs). I have been in love and I have lost love,” he ended.