Mumbai, Oct 25: In a candid admission, TV actor Akashdeep Sehgal, who entered the ‘Bigg Boss' house as the fourth male contestant, has said reality shows wanted to cash in on his ‘bad' image to grab eyeballs.
The actor who had essayed negative character of Ansh Gujral in popular soap ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi', became a household name with his angry young man image. He was once kicked out of a reality show ‘Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao' for his ‘bad' behaviour.
“Since I portrayed the character of Ansh, people have started taking me as a negative person. I feel reality shows want to cash in on my bad boy image. They want to show me in a bad light for publicity reasons,” Akashdeep told PTI in an interview.
When asked whether such negative portrayal affects him, the actor replied, “No, I am certainly not bothered if I am shown as a bad boy on shows. I need not justify people about anything. I am not a bad person. People close to me know what kind of a person I am...how respectful and professional I am.”
Akashdeep is the fourth male contestant in ‘Bigg Boss' besides actors Shakti Kapoor, Amar Upadhyay and winner of a dating reality show Siddharth Bhardwaj.
“I wanted to be on the show so that people can see the real me. They have always heard bad things about me but never seen it,” Akashdeep said, adding he has seen some episodes of the reality show and was looking forward to be part of it. “I am not going to follow any strategy. All I will do is cook some good food for everyone as they have been in the house since beginning and need some relax,” he quipped.
After having participated in a few reality shows, Akashdeep says he is not keen on doing daily soaps. “I prefer doing reality shows as they take less time. In a fiction show, one can not explore much in terms of character. I am fine doing films as well,” he said. Akashdeep played a villain in 2009 blockbuster Tamil film ‘Ayan'.
“I am happy that people liked me in the movie. I have another Hindi film up for release in February but I can't reveal anything about the movie,” he added.