Jaipur lad Akash Jagga is living his Mumbai dreams after bagging Ekta Kapoor's show ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2’. While he calls it surreal, Akash soon bagged another big project – Sasural Simar Ka 2. This week in ETimes TV’s Tellyblazer segment, we have the young and dashing Akash Jagga, who spoke about how he cried on a call with his mother and has almost packed his bags for Jaipur but destiny had other plans for him. The actor shares his story of coming from Jaipur and fulfilling his acting dreams and more.
Missing from Sasural Simar Ka 2 for sometime…
I have not been doing SSK2 for a while because I've some other work. It is going to release soon. So I'm excited about the new projects coming up. I am still doing Simar. Even since my character Gagan got married in the show, there were some new entries. So we were on hold for a while. It has been quite some time now and I was in Kashmir and Himachal. I was shooting here in Mumbai again for something. Now I have heard that our track is coming back. I'll be shooting for SSK2 again in a few days.
On Sasural Simar Ka 2 and bond with co-stars
It’s been an amazing journey. I have been lucky enough that I got a part, I got such a wonderful team. Trust me on this when I say this that when I go shooting, it doesn’t feel like I am going to shoot. Our team, the cast is fantastic. From Tanya, Radhika, Jayati ma’am, Karan bhai, Avinash and everyone. We actually live like a family. I don’t miss my family, because here, they are my family.
Being part of shows like Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2 and then Sasural Simar Ka 2
I was very young when I came to Mumbai and you know all the dreams and everything. It was a dream come true for me as a debutant when I got this opportunity to play the role in Kasautii. So, it was like a huge deal for me. It was rise in Covid, there were no flights, no trains available and I told my parents that this show was happening. So they're like we are not letting you go outside it's very risky and I don't think it's safe to even go out. They wanted to accompany me. From Jaipur, we went by road. All day night we drove and reached Mumbai. We started shooting. I couldn’t feel it inside that you know I'm doing this. Even when I saw myself on screen for the first time and I was like, ‘Is this real, was I not in Jaipur the day before?’
Making your TV debut and then seeing yourself on-screen, the responses you received from everyone…
I remember that day it was like all my family, my friends, everyone called me and they said, ‘we saw you on screen, you were great, we loved the show we are going to watch it every day now’ and I was still processing it. I thanked everyone. It was like a birthday for me and I'm just thanking everyone. It felt surreal. I was not sure when my entry was going to be telecast. I was working out at home and my parents just informed me.
Many actors have shared that they have faced rejection at the last moment. Did he go through something similar?
It has happened many times. Actually, I was kind of done with television. I was like this is never gonna happen. I think three times I was finalised for some particular show. I don't even remember the names of the channels but I was told we are locking you and the next day I heard that someone known has replaced me. This happened thrice and then I was like this is wrong. They should give me a chance and you know I should be there and when everything was finalised why, why is this happening. I even shot a promo for the show but everything got canceled and they got a new actor for that. So all this happened that's why I'm telling you that you know it was like, I was still not accepting the fact that this is happening.
So I started doing theater after my 12th and there were no plans as such for Mumbai but I enjoyed that one year so much in theater and I was just loving what I was doing. I was going to the theater every day rehearsing every day, reading new scripts and performing in front an audience of 1,000, 2,000. So I was just loving that and after a while it just came to me that you know this is what I want to do and I think if I have to do this then I have to go to Mumbai. Thanks to my parents they have always been supportive of what I want and what I want to do. There were no pressures from them, you don't know you can't do that. They were always like ‘follow your passion if you think you can do this go ahead we are with you. So wherever I've reached wherever I might go my parents hands down have been my back support, my strength, my everything.
Coming to Mumbai, did you face the struggles that actors go through?
It was very hectic I remember back then. I think 6-7 months straight I gave auditions every day. I was giving 5-6 auditions, going from Aram Nagar to Malad and you know Versova… knocking on the doors asking them are there any auditions going on, can I give an introduction, can I do this character what he was doing. Just asking them, ‘Kuch kaam hai kya’. After 6-7 months there was a breakdown. When I was like yeah I'm doing my 100% it's not that I'm not trying then why it's not happening. Not a single call back. You know I got the audition done but nothing after that. So one night after my gym, after giving auditions, I was just talking to my mom and I almost cried saying that I think I should come back. I'm trying but it's not happening and that very night I think around 9:30-10 p.m. I got a call back for a commercial. I literally started dancing. I was like okay this is a sign and you know I shouldn't be going and I should continue with what I'm doing is just you have to be patient and it's going to happen. So yeah I remember that night very well because I remember I was dancing alone in the apartment and then I called my moment and told okay mom the shoot is happening.
Maintaining a lifestyle in Mumbai along with looking for a show
My parents have been there for me all the time. When my parents are here there's a sense of relief that you know now everything is going to happen. You know they're here for me if they need me I'm there for them. So this is a sense of comfort, the relief. So whenever there's an issue, I always call my parents. They keep coming up to see me or I keep going back to Jaipur. I'm a mama's boy and I'm not ashamed. I tell her every single thing.
Who keeps you inspired?
My parents for sure. My mom calls me every morning. She asks me about my schedule and I can’t make that up. She follows my show. She will ask me about the scenes. Every morning my parents send me motivational quotes. It inspires me. It is very sweet. My mom is my best friend.
Do you also discuss girls?
Absolutely. My mom is, “Abhi kaam pe focus kar, ladkiyo pe nahi.”
Realising you have a fan base after your shows…
I started working when it was Covid. In Mumbai you know there are people who watch but Mumbai is huge and we hardly go out to places. Whenever I'm going to Jaipur, I experience it. I remember, I went to Pushkar with some of my friends just to roam around. There, the audience knows you. This happened twice-thrice with me, whenever I am out of town, where people watch these shows. People recognise me. They don’t know my name but address me as Kaushik from Kasautii or Gagaan from Sasural. In Kashmir, two school girls came to me and asked me, ‘Are you Kaushik from Kasautii? Can we click a photo?’ They were very sweet. I'm very down to earth towards everyone. I never say no to anyone. I appreciate the love that they give and I will always do that because I think love is never enough.
His bond with Kasautii co-star Aditi Sanwal aka Kuki
So I'll tell you honestly, we both entered the show together. In fact, Aditi was already there. Ashish (Bhardwaj) and I entered late. We had the best bond. We were new and we used to share one vanity with three doors. We would open the partitions and we used to make it a big vanity. We had the best chemistry. We would play guitar, sing songs, eat together. Even today, Ashish is doing Mithai show. And our sets are next to each other. We suddenly realised it and were shocked. Now all those old days are back. We miss Aditi and I miss her separately. We are tight friends.
Have you faced social media pressure when it comes to bagging a project?
This has been happening. Even I realized that when someone asked me. This happened two or three times because people are asking, ‘Apka instagram handle bhejo’. And I'm like that is something new. No one does that I mean if you want to ask me you can just send me a script I can make that audition that still works. But what is an instagram profile? Usse kya hoga? I mean you want pictures. I have already sent them to you. So they want to cast people with a certain number of followers. Industry should give more chances to new people and it shouldn't be judged on the followers according to me.
Any inhibitions about doing web shows?
I still have a problem with doing the bold scenes that we talked about these days. And I have rejected a lot of projects because of that because I think I'm not ready and I don't think I don't want to work in something if my family feels weird to watch. So yeah if it's demanded in the script then I might go ahead with that. There are some platforms who release such content and I don’t want to be a part of that. So I have been rejecting some really good shows as well because of some intimate scenes and I don't think I am still ready for that. But if I get a good script and a strong opportunity is there, I might do it.
