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Actor Puneet Vashistha, who plays Badrinath in Nikhil Sinha’s ‘Chandrakanta’, has acting in his blood considering his father Murari Lal Vasishtha who is a known character artist from the industry.
Yet Puneet was more inclined towards other artistic pursuits since childhood. When asked about his dad, he said:
“My father was known as Brahmachari, and all his friends and closed ones called him Brahmji. He always knew I never wanted to become an actor because I was more of a musician. I always played the tabla and guitar when I was younge, still he wanted me to become an actor. I never understood his faith in me.”
Talking about his path to acting, Puneet recalls:
“I was a choreographer and I assisted Ahmed Khan. Remo Dsouza and I used to work together and he was my junior. This was almost 22 to 23years back. I was into music and choreography, but then people came to know I was Brahmji’s son. I did Himalayputra as my first film where Pankaj Prashar saw me. My father had done the film ‘Jalwa’ with him starring Archana Puran Singh. So, he saw me and told me that we should do a film in which I played Akshay Kumar’s Parsi friend. I felt good after working in the film. I got to see how an actor is pampered and what the work pattern is. So yes, this is how I started acting and I can say that acting is in my blood. But I’m also a musician, an aspiring filmmaker and a choreographer, and I thank God that I am in this field, the credit for which goes to my father.”
After his start as an actor, Puneet quickly became a known face in the media scene. Defining his journey as an actor, Puneet said:
“My journey as an actor is such that I have come from films. After choreography, I went into films. My first film was Himalayaputra, after which I did ‘Aflatoon’, ‘Josh’ and ‘Kya Kehna’. Around that time, I started dabbling in television, too. It’s funny that many of the people in this industry don’t know that I am a musician and a writer as well. But now, I am very happy doing ‘Chandrakanta’. After 4 years I have got a regular character.”
His experience with ‘Chandrakanta’, has been quite rewarding. Talking about it, he said:
“With ‘Chandrakanta’, both Nikhil and Sohaanna ji are very nice. The set has a warm vibe. There goes a lot of hard work behind every shot, costumes, and scenes. This experience is even bigger than that of doing films. I hope that we get a lot of audiences, and I pray that people like the show and we live up to their expectations. I love everyone here in the Triangle productions team. It is a brilliant experience. Also, after the hunger and the thirst of years an actor, I am enjoying it.”
Another interesting thing that people don’t know is that Puneet has a very different and cool association with the old Chandrakanta show. He reveals:
“Just in case you don’t know, my father played Krrur Singh’s closed aid in the old ‘Chandrakanta’. When I was a child, I watched ‘Chandrakanta’ and what I remember was my father and Krrur Singh played by Akhilendra Mishra. I actually don’t remember watching Irrfan Khan at all considering I’m doing the role which he did. People did ask me about him, but I don’t remember that at all! As an actor’s son, I am trying to take a new take and creatively people like it. I am playing my role as a mix of Jhonny Depp. He is a friend to Virendra and also a loyal one to Marich, so he has to play games with Virendra too. I have worked with Irrfan Khan in Inspector KC but haven’t got any chance more to work with him. So, as far as comparisons go, Badrinath is original take of Puneet Vashishta and there’s nothing influenced from Irrfan Khan.”
