Meet Sharad Kelkar — the new villain of Telugu cinema

Beginning his career as a model, Sharad Kelkar started his television journey with Saat Phere-Saloni Ka Safar, and went on to host the show Pati Patni Aur Woh. Currently seen as Agent Raghav in the TV thriller Agent Raghav — Crime Branch, Kelkar has also acted in films, including the Marathi hit Lai Bhaari. His Bollywood film, Rocky Handsome, released last month, and from April 7 he’ll be on UAE screens in Sardar Gabbar Singh, in which the Gwalior native makes his debut into Telugu cinema.

In an exclusive with tabloid!, Kelkar took time out of his New York holiday to talk about his new role.

On his role:

“I play Bhairon Singh, a flamboyant guy with an attitude. He is ambitious and wants to rule the village of Rattanpur. Impulsive and hasty in his actions, he must have everything that he desires, including the princess in the story. It is a character etched completely in black. The story moves ahead when Gabbar Singh opposes him at every stage.”

On overcoming the language barrier:

“The director gave me a beautiful narration and his vision was clear. Bobby [director Ravindran] is easy to work with. If he wanted me to improvise on a scene he would tell me and I followed his instructions. I have added my own inputs for the character and I try not to repeat my characters. Bhairon Singh is more classy and elegant.

I did struggle with the new language in the first schedule, but my assistant director helped me understand my lines. I used to mug them well to avoid retakes. It was certainly not easy with some dialogues running to more than a page. I have done my best and now looking forward to catch the reaction of viewers in theatres on the first day.”

On working with Pawan Kalyan:

“I had heard a lot about him and have also watched some of his films. Yes, the first day I did have butterflies in my stomach, but Pawan is a nice guy. He treated me like a younger brother and was cooperative. Pawan is an expert when it comes to action sequences. Being well-versed in martial arts, he knows how to be precise and not injure his co-actors. One common interest that we both shared was our admiration for Amitabh Bachchan. We often talked about Big B’s films.”