One Should Work With Sanjay Dutt At Least Once In A Lifetime

From being a big name in the television fraternity to becoming the new baddie of B-Town, SHARAD KELKAR has indeed come a long way. This new baddie on the block has awed the audience with his drop-dead gorgeous looks and his baritone bad-boy voice. He indeed is a ladies man as he proudly claims that the glitzy halo of lady luck has shone upon him and blinged his destiny. Today, he undoubtedly is the Saiyaan of the industry who’s making the audience go trippy trippy… So how was this bad boy’s experience when he bagged an opportunity to work with the Khalnayak of the industry? Let’s get the dice rollin’.

- Nazifa Charania

How did the journey start?

I always wanted to be an army officer but I used to do part time modelling, and also work at the gym as an instructor to get my pocket money. Then a few of my friends asked me, ‘Why don’t you go for Mr. India,you have potential’. So I participated and reached the top 10 level. Then I came back to Gwalior and asked my mother if I could go to Mumbai. There was an incident which gave me the thought to come to Mumbai. I had come to Mumbai just to meet all my friends after finishing my exams. I was having fun, meeting my friends, seeing how Mumbai was and just a day before I was supposed to go back. I got a call saying, ‘There is a ramp show and we would like you to walk the ramp. The budget is not great but we will pay you `5000’. My salary for one month at that time was `2,500 and for one ramp show, I was getting `5000. So I thought I should try my luck here and Mumbai became my karma bhoomi. In the initial months, I got some TV commercials, and then later I did around 20 to 30 advertisements. Then the period started where I had no work. I was staying with 13 people in a 2 room and kitchen apartment, that’s when the struggle started. There were times when I had the money to either eat vada pav or travel by bus. So we used to have vada pav and walk back from Andheri to Bandra. That is the time check when reality hits you.

Did you come across any obstacles in your initial days?