Making a mark TV actor Yuvraj Malhotra

Making a mark TV actor Yuvraj Malhotra

Making a mark TV actor Yuvraj Malhotra

Over the years underworld dons have fascinated filmmakers but television has more or less stayed away from the life of gangsters. Yes, when Doordarshan used to rule the airwaves, we had serials like Shaanti and Swabhi man where plots were written to highlight such characters but these days we hardly find characters played by Tom Alter and Ashutosh Rana in these serials.

Now Zee TV is trying to reinvent the genre on television through Waaris. The series has Ashish Vidyarthi as the don and Iqbal Khan and Yuvraj Malhotra as his sons.

“It is inspired by Godfather and Sarkar,” says Yuvraj, who is playing the younger son, Shourya. He feels in cinema you can’t deal with the intricacies of such characters in detail.

Serials provide the opportunity for a character shade to develop at the desired pace.

Talking about the storyline, Yuvraj says, “The don leads the life of a businessman and his wife has taken a promise from him that Shourya shouldn’t come to know about his real profession. He is sent abroad to study. However, certain instances make the don realise that his legacy couldn’t be taken forward by his elder son because he is too impulsive. He wants to bring in Shourya to lead the gang. This leads to turmoil in the family.”

Amidst all the familiar stories on television, Shourya feels this one is different. “Here the focus is again on a family, the relationships are also similar, but the issues they are dealing with are different. Here a mother doesn’t crib about his daughter-in-law. Her problem is how to keep her son away from underworld. Here is a son who respects his father like a god, but the reality is about to dawn on him.”

Interior designer

A Delhiite, Yuvraj studied at Hindu College and was training to be an interior designer. “I was doing theatre and modelling alongside. I wanted to move to Mumbai to try my luck in films. My father is a businessman. First he laughed at my career choice but then agreed to give me some money to go to Mumbai to struggle. Thankfully, things worked out for me pretty soon. I got offers for serials.” He was noticed in serials like Jeete Hain Jiske Liye and Betiyaan.

“The medium is very taxing. To avoid exhaustion, I want to concentrate on one project at a time. Now I am looking forward to an innings in Bollywood.” And if one day he discovers that his father is not what he thinks him to be? “If he turns out to be a don, I would request him to launch me as a hero!”