Dhruv Bhandari, new kid on the tube

Star kids are always special – be it the big screen or the small. The big screen has given us quite a few successful star kids including Sunny and Bobby Deol, Sanjay Dutt or Abhishek Bachchan, however, the small screen is yet to see a good, successful star kid. However, with the maturing of the television industry, things seem to be changing. Take Dhruv Bhandari, son of veteran actor Mohan Bhandari, for example. Dhruv is all set to debut with a new serial on Imagine called Rakt Sambandh. Dhruv, interestingly, was supposed to start his career four years back with Manish Goswami's Sixer which was loosely based on Sachin Tendulkar. “But the project was shelved. I had just passed out from my college when this offer had come to me. It was a big show on Star One, written by Shobha De. However, things did not really work out the way I would have liked them to. After that one year was very tough for me. I lost interest in acting and was very depressed. However, I came out of it and started grooming myself again,” recalls Dhruv. His hard work paid off when UTV Telly Talkies offered him a role two months back. “They narrated the character to me and I liked it. I immediately agreed to a look test and got selected after that,” says the actor who wanted to make a big screen debut. “It was up to me. I opted for the small screen despite my dream. Plus, now the difference between films and television has become thinner. People like Shah Rukh Khan, Irfan Khan and Rajeev Khandelwal have been successful in the film industry,” he says. How has his father influenced him? Ask this question and you will see Dhruv’s eyes light up. “My father is my role model and inspired me a lot. He is always there to guide me and advise me on how to portray this character correctly on screen. I didn't want to be a goody goody character in the show and wanted to have some other shades as well which is well scripted in RS. He helped me a lot in maintaining the balance,” says the student from the acting institute Creating Characters. “My father and I often have healthy arguments on working styles,” says Dhruv, smiling. Incidentally Mohan Bhandari is also playing his reel life father in the show. Dhruv calls himself a perfectionist and is never satisfied till the time he is convinced. “It took me four years to launch myself. I wanted to be sure of my debut. I hope this show will allow me to develop my own identity,” concludes Dhruv.