Exclusive | Naman Shaw: ‘The life of an actor is not as interesting as it seems’

Exclusive interview with Naman Shaw

Naman Shaw is one of the most loved actors in the TV industry. Naman has been a part of several daily soaps but always as a Raja Beta. However, it has been quite some time since we saw him last on television until he made a return with Mangal Lakshmi, co-starring television's favourite bahu rani, Deepika Singh. But what's new about Naman's comeback show? It is his character because breaking the image of a Sharavan Kumar, Naman is playing a rather grey character in the daily soap. Recently, Naman got into a chat with midday.com and talked about his character, the new show, the hiatus, feeling typecasted, and much more.

In conversation with us, Naman shared how he feels super excited to be in front of the camera after a long break. The actor said, "Oh, it feels great to be back in front of the camera. I mean, I was there in the industry but behind the camera. So, now, after seven years, it's my comeback. So, it feels good to be associated with Colors, a primetime show, a great show. I mean, my entire family is super excited because everyone was waiting, 'When will you come back? When will you come back?' And fans also used to message me, 'When are you back? When are you back?' I was like, 'Yeah, yeah, something interesting, and I'll be back. It's been for the better. I mean, the first two days on set, I was like, 'I don't know what's going on here because it's been such a long break.'"

Further in the conversation, Shaw shared about his decision to make a return with a character he has not done before, "I have only done sweet, good boy roles till now. That's typical. Shravan Kumar, a nice boy. This is something that I've never done. And I feel these kinds of great characters are like the flavour of the season. They have much more to do. They have much more layering in the character. Currently, I'm done with playing a sweet boy, a chocolate boy. I want to be known as a performer now. So this gives me an opportunity to show."

When asked if it would be easy to convince the audience, Naman shared, "My gap will help me because the new generation hasn't seen me in the last seven years, I would say it's almost like a decade. So for me, it's a challenge. And I was waiting for this kind of opportunity. Now, the TV has changed from that time. If you want to be a long-distance horse, you have to be versatile. You can't be just doing sweet boy, chocolate boy roles. They've seen it, they've gotten bored of me. They will find it interesting because they haven't seen me like this before."

"My hiatus was not a conscious decision, but it happened. Situations were like that. I took a break and thought I'll do OTT, but then I got into production and it was working well, my home production. Then COVID happened, and then my baby happened. And I already had commitments, my shows were on, as a producer. So I could not take up anything. I got a lot of calls in between, but I didn't get the opportunity. I couldn't get out of there. Now in 2023, in mid-2023, I finished all my commitments and I was like in 2024, in the beginning, I'll take up a show. And in 2024, Jan 1st or 2nd, I got this show. So all the reasons for me to take this up, this was like the best time planned for me," he said while talking about the decision to take the hiatus.

After portraying the roles of nice men, Naman felt typecasted, addressing that he shared, "Typecast? Yes, once people see you, they think you are just a good boy. They don't associate me with that. But my producers, they, I think they cast me because they felt that I look very positive and people will not expect this from me. So for them, it was very interesting."

As per Shaw, an actor's life isn't as interesting as it looks. Sharing insights about that, he shared, "The life of an actor is not as interesting as it seems. I mean, our 12 hours are shot, coming and going, then you have to maintain yourself. You have to go to the gym also after packing up. It's not easy. And seven days of telecast is not easy, but this is what we've signed up for. And I tell you, I was sitting at home for so long, I was resting at home. So when you come back, you work. There's nothing more. I mean, I'm just saying, this is just the industry is like that. It works like that."

On a parting note, Naman shared his future plans and said, "I've just come back after six years on TV. The plan is just to concentrate on Mangal Lakshmi right now as an actor. But as a producer, of course, my other shows are on developing shows for platforms. It's just Mangal Lakshmi right now.