Shivam Parekh: Mitron didn’t really make a huge difference to my career

Gujarati actor Shivam Parekh, currently seen in Oho Gujarati’s latest web series Chaskela, made his acting debut with the Hindi film Mitron. The movie that starred Jackky Bhagnani in the lead role also had Scam 1992 actor Pratik Gandhi in a pivotal role.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, Shivam confirmed that the movie did not really give his career a major boost.

When we asked the actor if Mitron opened up opportunities for him, he stated, “Not really, since the film didn’t work as expected when it first released. I don’t think that made a huge difference in the opportunities I got but people started knowing me and calling me for auditions. A few projects did work in my favour thereon. It didn’t make a huge difference but was definitely a milestone.”

Talking about picking Mitron over a Gujrati film, he mentioned, “I came to Ahmedabad in 2016, which is when Gujarati industry was just starting out. I did want to work in a Gujarati film and still do but at that time I couldn’t find a project I related to, so I wasn’t able to pick them. The ones I identified with, were not offered to me (laughs). I definitely wanted to work with Nitin Kakkad and Pratik Gandhi.”

With Chaskela, the actor, who has worked in plays, short films and movies, made his debut in web series. Stating the difference and talking about his experience while working on Chaskela, Saurabh elaborated, “Many of my short films were a part of my film school. It was a great learning experience for me. Mitron was a huge experience too. It was the first professional project I did apart from theatre. We didn’t have much time and much to shoot with Chaskela. That kept us on our feet every moment. We just had to deliver, which really helped me to find out how quickly we can adapt to the situation given to us. At first it didn’t seem possible but with the situation, we sailed through the shooting. We shot the series during the Unlock situation.”

Calling himself the ‘most Chaskela (crazy)’ person among his friends, the actor added, “Each night was a roller-coaster. To pick one moment is definitely difficult. We used to shoot at night. I remember we never even got the time to breathe. I remember when we had a short break and played impromptu antakshari. We were singing so loudly that the technicians came and calmed us down time-and-again. That was a fun, beautiful moment.”

Currently, Shivam has a Hindi web series which will go on floors once shooting opens up in Mumbai. He is also part of a Gujarati web series which is yet to be announced.