Karan Wahi says TV actors overacting is a preconceived notion: ‘Some may overact, but…’

Karan Wahi has played a variety of roles in his career since making his debut with the television show Remix in 2004. Karan appeared in a number of TV soaps and also hosted reality shows such as Nach Baliye and Indian Idol among others, before making his Bollywood debut in 2014 with Daawat-e-Ishq, which also starred Parineeti Chopra and Aditya Roy Kapur. He also made his debut in the OTT space with the role of Karan Malhotra in Netflix India’s first original series, Sacred Games, and will be next seen in the Zee5 series Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2. Also Read| Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2 trailer: Karan Wahi, Sarah Jane Dias add drama to Nakuul Mehta, Anya Singh’s messy story

In a chat with HT, he opened up about the judgement that television actors have to face due to the notion that they tend to overact when they work in other mediums. Karan said that though it may depend on an actor how they act in different mediums, he acts the same, be it films, TV, or OTT.

Karan said, “I think it’s a very person-to-person funda. Some people maybe do overact, but sometimes I think it’s a perception that television is overacting. I personally prefer to talk about myself, I act the same way in all three mediums. All three mediums, the dialect is different, the way a story is perceived is very different. So there are switch pans in the TV, it’s not my fault, it’s the camera that’s doing that. I am not acting differently. But I think it’s a preconceived notion also.”

Karan added, “I have had the opportunity to work with so many people from the film fraternity and the web world. And I am glad that the people who have worked with me, they also had these notions, but eventually when you work more and more with people outside the television fraternity, I think that’s when they realise that ‘I am sure you had some talent that you survived all these years.’ I think the day we stop calling television actors TV actors and just call him an actor, half the fight is already won.”

Karan, who hasn’t been seen on TV in quite some time because of the extensive time commitment it demands, said that he is hoping for a project where his timeline is sorted. He explained, “I don’t want to work 30 days a month, because I feel I will over-burn myself.” The actor also clarified that contrary to speculations, he would not be making a cameo on Bade Acche Lagte Hain 2, which stars his friend and co-actor Nakuul Mehta.

Karan opened up about the bond he shares with Nakuul and the experience he had while filming with him in London for Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2. He said, “We were having a ball of a time even when we were busy shooting. Nakuul and I go a really really long way and I am just glad we finally worked together.”

Karan’s upcoming show Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2 will be released on Zee5 on April 29. The first season of the show, starring Nakuul Mehta and Anya Singh in the lead roles, premiered in January 2020. A special edition lockdown series was also released in June of that year. The second season, directed by Harsh Dedhia and produced by 11:11 Productions, also stars Sarah Jane Dias, Sapna Pabbi, Javed Jaffrey, Niki Walia, and Deepti Bhatnagar.