Romance revived

Erica Fernandes and Karan Kundrra in Love Adhura; (inset) Kundrra with Prakash

It was Karan Kundrra's romantic persona in Kitani Mohabbat Hai (2009) that captured the hearts of his fans at the start of his career. While he refrained from repeating himself, the actor is back on the screen with two releases this month: the big-screen outing Tera Kya Hoga Lovely and the mini-series Love Adhura. He is elated that he fulfilled his fans' request of doing a romantic show. "I knew my audience wanted [me to do] a love story. But I also wanted to do something different. So, we made it into a romantic thriller. Love Adhura gave us the opportunity to showcase our performances and the power of good screenplay," says the actor, hoping that he has managed to give the audience what they wanted, albeit with a twist.

For Kundrra, it has always been about evolving as an artiste and offering fresh experiences to his audience. It's only creative fulfillment that drives him to select a project. "People have been impressed that we did something different. I did [the show] so that I could do better in the future," he says, adding that he has found a few concepts that came his way interesting, which are now in the development stage. "If they materialise, it will be something new for the audience."

Although mindful of his positioning as an artiste in the industry, Kundrra has never shied away from an interesting project, irrespective of the length of the role. "Natural progression says that once you become big on television, you should do a show that's four times bigger than your previous one on a channel that's bigger than the one you last worked on. I have seen people moving towards films after finding success in TV and then eventually disappearing. So, I don't think like that. I see what excites or challenges me," he says. When asked about working with his girlfriend Tejasswi Prakash, he says that while their names together will scale the popularity of any show, he wants to be signed for their talent. "I want to be a part of a project, especially one with Teju, where the markets sign us for our acting talent, not because we are Karan and Tejasswi. To undermine our respective hard work and cast us because we have a hashtag, is not fair," he says.