Actor Rajeev Khandelwal has seen a stardom that many cannot even imagine. Even Rajeev finds it hard to explain what it was like to witness the love he got for his role, Sujal Grewal, in Kahiin Toh Hoga. The Ekta Kapoor-produced show that was released in 2003 made Rajeev Khandelwal a household name. It catapulted him to superstardom on Indian television, but just when he reached the top, Rajeev decided to return to the ground equally soon. In the latest episode of SCREEN’s “Dear Me…” Rajeev Khandelwal recalled his memories with Kahiin Toh Hoga – from bagging the role and witnessing the popularity, to quitting it, he shared that he left the show because of the audience’s love.
Talking about landing the role, he said, “I had done a few ads, and slowly I started doing a little better. Whenever I used to earn some money, I used to go back to Delhi. During one of those trips, I read an ad that said, Balaji Telefilms has an audition for a show in a college. I went there and it looked like the entire Delhi wanted to become an actor. The richest and poorest kids were all there. So I thought it was fake, and they must have finalised someone already. I was also very nervous. Then a guy named Vishal called me and asked me to audition. I auditioned for Sujal, but I was picked to play a role in Kya Hadsa Kya Haqeeqat. Within four days, I got a call from Balaji, and I came to Mumbai.”
‘I never thought this show would become so popular…’
Rajeev further shared, “I took up the role, it was for 35-40 episodes, and by then I knew that another guy was already cast for Kahiin Toh Hoga. He had started playing that character, and by the time I wrapped up my show, I was told that they had shot for 15 episodes already. However, after shooting that much, they decided to replace Sujal, and I could hear the buzz in Balaji that I was going to be picked for a character that is very close to her heart. One day, Ekta called me and offered me the role.”
“I had no idea that this character would work because I was the opposite. I considered myself not good-looking, and I was known to be a good-looking man. At no point in time did I think this show would become so popular. The day I was told that it would be telecast at 11 pm, I told myself that this would be a long struggle. I thought I would need a few more shows to get recognition. But in 15 episodes, I started seeing this excitement around me. I would find girls around me blushing, looking at me, and smiling. I kept telling myself it was for the character,” Rajeev added.
He also shared, “It hit me the day one of the leading publications called me asking for an interview, which came on the front page. After 25 episodes, I started cutting ribbons, and I was everywhere, and then it went through the roof. I just couldn’t handle it, felt very unreal. Nobody will understand that feeling other than me and Ekta. Once I went to my house and I could not even enter, I couldn’t go on the terrace because they were filled with people. I would fly kites, and girls would drop kites with messages written for Sujal on them. A lot of things changed overnight. I was getting so many film offers.”
‘I quit the show, because I couldn’t handle it…’
Recalling the love he got from fans, Rajeev Khandelwal said, “I was very truthful to myself, and I never took up the film offers because I wanted to prove to myself that I was much more than Sujal. A lot of people also kept telling me that this is what happens with serials that one gets popular, and you get stuck in that image. For me, the love was so overwhelming that I couldn’t deal with it. People would wait outside my home, letters were slipped un from under the door, women would come and bless me, I would get weird calls now and then. I was inundated with gifts.”
Sharing why he chose to quit the show, Rajeev added, “When I quit the show, it was only because I couldn’t handle it. People loved me so much, and I thought I was not giving them back in terms of quality. That thinking of me being that for them was not working with me. After the character, I did not pick up any character that was similar to Sujal. I didn’t want to be known as this romantic guy who was brooding. So I picked up a series called Time Bomb. I was being offered romantic characters in bulk. My well-wishers were telling me to buy one more house, a few cars, by playing such roles. I did Time Bomb, and it did not work; the same people who wrote big stories about me also wrote about my mighty fall with the same gusto.”
Story continues below this ad
‘I went to Shobha (Kapoor) aunty, they offered me more money…’
Rajeev Khandelwal also shared, “People wrote things like, ‘he has become too big for his boots’, but nobody knew the truth. What came across was that I locked horns with Ekta, that I am leaving her, and I must be thinking that I have arrived. I quit the show at its peak, refused the money, the popularity, so many thought I was egoistic. After I quit Left Right Left, I also knew I was not going to be offered much work in TV now. I realised no producer would give me work.”
“I had a lot of fights with the producers; nobody would be happy when you walk out of a show when it’s doing well. When I was walking out of Kahiin toh Hoga, I went to Shobha (Kapoor) aunty, at that time, asking to leave the show was perceived as the actor wanted more money, which was also offered to me. They said they will increase my remuneration, and I said reduce it, but give me quality.”
On the work front, Rajeev Khandelwal was last seen in the OTT shows – Secrets of Shiledaars and Showtime.
