Rajeev Khandelwal, who was last seen in Bloody Daddy, played Sujal Garewal in Kahiin Toh Hoga.
In conversation with News18, Rajeev Khandelwal shares the reasons behind his decision to walk away from Ekta Kapoor’s show Kahin To Hoga at the peak of his career.
Rajeev Khandelwal, who started his TV journey with Kya Haadsa Kya Haqeeqat, quickly rose to fame as the charming heartthrob Sujal Garewal in Ekta Kapoor’s Kahiin Toh Hoga. Women fell for him and over time his character became the poster boy of romance. However, after a year, he took a bold decision to quit the show and later ventured into non-fiction shows and content-driven films. In an exclusive conversation with News18, he shared the reasons behind his decision to walk away from Kahiin Toh Hoga at the peak of his career.
Explaining why he left Kahiin Toh Hoga, the actor said, “When I left the show, I knew I was going against the grain. I was afraid whether I would be able to survive in the industry or not. But with my own belief system, I’ve managed it. Sujal Garewal’s popularity took me into an area I was not even prepared for. I didn’t even know that there could be so much love and appreciation for a character. I thought, ‘Could something like this happen to anyone?’ It happened overnight. It was hard for me to wrap my head around it. I asked myself, ‘I can’t become good looking overnight, can I? Till yesterday it was fine. Earlier people used to find me cute, now suddenly they find me good looking. I knew I was missing something.”
Rajeev said it didn’t take him long to understand what he was missing. “The love was not for me but for Sujal. Once I knew that, I had to take care of the character. That’s why, I gave my all for that one year. The popularity of this character was skyrocketing. But, with the change in the script, I felt that if I could not give the audience what they expect from Sujal, then I should not continue. I couldn’t sleepwalk through a character – especially, when it wasn’t a regular character. My conscience was not allowing me to do it,” he said, ”the script was going awry. I knew I was denying the immense love that Sujal had received, but I could not continue.
The actor will next be seen in a web series produced by Karan Johar’s Dharmatic.
