Best known for his TV show D3, Shantanu Maheshwari made his big Bollywood debut with Gangubai Kathiawadi, opposite Alia Bhatt as her love interest. The actor recently won awards for the web-show Campus Beats but did you know Shantanu was sceptical about signing it, especially after Sanjay Leela Bhansali film.
EXCLUSIVE: Shantanu Maheshwari reveals he was ‘unsure’ of Campus Beats ; says, “It was a big risk for me to do a youth show like that after working on Gangubai Kathiawadi”
In a recent interaction, Shantanu Maheshwari revealed he decided to take the plunge anyway and he couldn’t be happier about it. He said, “It was a big risk for me to do a youth show like Campus Beats after working on Gangubai Kathiawadi. I initially felt unsure to go back to doing youth content, but I felt like the risk was needed to explore that genre again and it definitely did pay off with all the amazing response that we got.”
He also explained the challenges behind doing a dance fiction show and added, “A dance fiction youth show is not an easy one. It’s a lot of hard work, dance rehearsals, sweat, injuries, tears that go into making the entire product. I was sure that with Campus Beats, it would all turn out effortlessly because of the creator of our show Palki Malhotra who truly believes in her craft. She has a very strong understanding of the youth and the kind of content they want to see, hence Campus Beats is made with that inclination and it did connect very well with the youth market”.
The show’s creator Palki Malhotra also opened up about the show and added, “The whole idea of Campus Beats actually started in 2013 when I finished D3, and I really thought we could do another dance fiction show immediately. But, of course, that was not the case because of various reasons, including the changes India went through with the OTT boom. When we finally got this opportunity, the big question was, who’s going to lead? Who’s going to become the face? I thought Shantanu would reject the idea because he was now venturing into Bollywood. But we gave it a try, and when he said yes to this, it gave us confidence that we were making a good show, a good series, a good script, as Shantanu is very picky about his scripts”.
“The whole idea was to pick real dancers. In spite of Shantanu being established, he went out of his way to undo his fame and become one with the fresh talent. One thing that stood apart for this show was the passion everyone brought to the table. The fact that we all wanted dancers to succeed. which is why, despite the difficulties injuries, rains, tough timelines, we made it work. A normal fiction show is tough, but a dance fiction series is a mammoth of a task. We prep individuals to become a team with acting and dance workshops. It’s not just dialouges but different dance styles, musicality, and daily selection and rejection of dance moves, the rhythm of the series. The beauty about a series like this is that we cry,we laugh,we bleed – all together. We did not know if all this would pay off, but we were confident that the passion and positivity everyone brought to the table would result in a good product”, she added.
Before signing off, she also expressed her happiness over the kind of accolades coming their way, “These awards mean a lot for Campus Beats because they are motivation for everyone involved. They put in 24 hours of hard work! And this kind of recognition coming in, has only instilled our faith even more into this show!”, Malhotra concluded.
Also Read: Shantanu Maheshwari makes debut at the 77th Cannes Film Festival; says, “Never thought I would get a chance to witness the festival”
More Pages: Gangubai Kathiawadi Box Office Collection
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