Rohit Saraf says he owes his newfound fame to his fans but at the same time, the actor believes that he has a responsibility towards himself to be happy and enjoy the work he is doing. After featuring in films like Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt-starrer "Dear Zindagi" (2016) and the 2019 drama "The Sky is Pink", Saraf became popular for his portrayal of a lovestruck guy in Anurag Basu's crime-comedy "Ludo".
The 24-year-old actor followed the film with the Netflix series "Mismatched" the same year where his romantic character acquired him a dedicated fan following. Saraf said the kind of love that has come his way is surreal.
"To wake up every day and realise that there are thousands of people sending love and support your way is one of the biggest things for me. I grew up loving actors from a distance but still felt so close to them. I feel like to be on the other side right now is one of the biggest opportunities I could ever have," the 24-year-old actor told PTI in an interview.
For the Nepal-born actor, the responsibility now is to keep delivering to the expectations of the audience. However, Saraf said he also want to steer clear of the pressure to succeed.
"There would be pressure if I let myself feel that. There's a huge number of people I'm inevitably responsible towards but my biggest responsibility is towards myself. I need to be happy with what I am doing. I'm thoroughly enjoying what I'm doing so I don't think of the pressure.
"I am the kind of person who over-thinks, so I don't want to get to a point where I'm creating scenarios, taking pressure and people being unhappy. Till the time I am happy, the directors I'm working with are happy, I'm home."
The actor will be next seen in Netflix anthology "Feels Like Ishq". His short, "Star Host", is one among six stories which aim to chronicle modern day love.
In the Anand Tiwari-directed segment, Saraf features as house host Aditya, who strikes a bond with his guest Tara, played by Simran Jehani.
Saraf said his character in the short is polar opposite to him in terms of how he views relationships.
While Saraf is a stickler for clarity in relationships--right till wanting to know how everything in it will pan out--Aditya is content with open ends.
"I need everything to be linear and correct. I like to know the beginning and the end. If we are talking about relationships, I like to know what is the end of it, to have a closure, just so that I don't build scenarios in my head. I thought that's the correct thing to do.
"But what this story taught me was that it's ok to not have closure, to not have an end to a particular relationship. I'm not like Aditya, I am someone who is articulate about how I feel. For me, it was a bit strange—I wouldn't say difficult—to not be that."
Saraf had a three-day reading session in Mumbai before the team left for Mahabaleshwar to film the short. But Saraf, instead of feeling assured about the trajectory of his part in the reading sessions, was left "confused."
"I felt extremely under confident because I just wasn't getting it. I felt if I was not understanding the character or if I would be able to achieve it. The entire pressure to let the character down started to play.
"What really helped was the two hour workshop we did one day before the shoot. We built Aditya's character- the way he talks, walks, expresses, we found everything in that. Anand sir comes from a theatre background, which is why we did these exercises. The kind of rush I felt in those two hours is something I continue to chase everyday," he added.
Produced by Mutant Films and Awesomeness TV, "Feels Like Ishq" is scheduled to be released on July 23.
