Sudhanshu Pandey has been in the industry for more than two decades and featured in several Hindi films. However, he rose to stardom with his debut television show, Anupamaa, in 2020. Sudhanshu plays the role of Vanraj Shah- a middle-class man, whose only priority is to provide the best for his family, whereas as a person, he's got several layers. On the completion of 2 years of Anupamaa, Sudhanshu exclusively spoke to Pinkvilla and shared his thoughts about the character, his growth as an artist, and how people are extremely quick to judge his onscreen character. Read on:
Sudhanshu Pandey on 2 years of Vanraj Shah in Anupamaa
The Anupamaa actor said, "I think this journey has been very enriching as an actor. I had always heard that daily soap actors get exhausted by playing the same character for years and they reach a saturation point. I'm very lucky that I got a character in my daily soap which was obviously the male protagonist but so much more than the male lead, who has got so many layers. The kind of complicated and complex mind that the character has, I thought would give me a scope to give a new dimension to every time that there is something new happening on the show. In the last two years, I've had not one single day, where I felt saturated."
Talking about his role as Vanraj Shah in Anupamaa, the 47-year-old said, "The character is unpredictable, sometimes, he can be very angry, soft-hearted, and really vulnerable. He's very attached to his children and he's only living his life for his family. All he wants to do is make his family proud, happy, and secure. On the other hand, he has anger issues, and ego, which is very human. Most of us have a lot of ego problems without even realizing it, there are a lot of issues, and we are sensitive about so many things. We react as per situations and circumstances around us. Nothing can define you as a person because, in every circumstance, our reactions are different."
Sudhanshu Pandey: People are quick to judge Vanraj
Sudhanshu Pandey further added that people criticize Anupamaa's Vanraj Shah but he has a good laugh over it, here's why. "Some people are very quick to Vanraj but I sit back and smile because I know that these people will turn around and say, 'yaar, ye itna bura aadmi nahin hai.' That is the beauty of this character, it's multi-dimensional. The only thing that I have had to keep in mind is that very thin line where I cannot be a very negative or a very positive person because that will make my character very unrealistic. So, I've had to walk that very thin line but I keep everything under control during scenes where there are dialogues that push the character in a certain direction. So, I have to tone down the dialogues and also have a discussion with the creatives and writers a lot of times to change a few things, and they are very happy to incorporate the changes because they understand where I'm coming from and completely relate to it too.," said Sudhanshu Pandey.
The Anupamaa actor concluded by saying, "I've been trying my best to give my hundred percent to this character."
