13th Actor Paresh Pahuja Feels Saiyaara's Success Has Opened Doors For More Musicals: Another Cool Thing | Exclusive

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the new SonyLIV series, 13th: Some Lessons Aren't Taught in Classrooms, Paresh Pahuja plays a venture capitalist who gives it all up to help his former mentor, played by Gagan Dev Riar. Paresh cited the awareness of startup culture in society which gives the drama series a perfect time to be seen. Calling it "a very authentic little story about hope", the Bandish Bandits actor was hopeful it would resonate. Speaking about future roles, Paresh revealed he was looking at more music-based roles after Saiyaara became a blockbuster.

Paresh Pahuja on balancing music and acting

Speaking with Zoom, Paresh shared that both acting and music are tied together for him. He shared, "My acting career kind of gave me access to the music industry in a very different way. I was shooting music videos for other artists, and that's how I connected with a lot of singers and songwriters. Now because of music, I have a certain reach. And because of that reach, I'm getting scripts, and I have access to productions and directors that I didn't have earlier. So, both are helping each other. And I'm enjoying both, like in terms of balancing my time and scheduling. There is no clash of interest.

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He added, "I feel very lucky, honestly, to be in a spot where I'm able to do both. And a lot of scripts are coming, and especially now after films like Saiyaara's success and after Bandish [Bandits] doing so well, I'm suddenly also reading a lot of stories that are around music and the music industry, which is another cool thing. I'm seeing it as a nice thing." ALSO READ: 13th Some Lessons Aren't Taught In Classrooms Review: A Heartfelt Drama That Struggles To Engage The actor went on to say that he would like to play a musician again in a film. He stated, "I would love to do, like, an intense love story with a lot of music as a background, like a Rockstar would be great, like La La Land, those films where music is a character. I'm looking for scripts like that where I'm getting to play a musician and there's a love story."

Comparing 13th role to acting career

When reading the script for 13th, Paresh felt he experienced some of the same feelings as his character Ritesh. He explained, "It was very personal to be honest, because the parallels between trying to crack IIT versus trying to make it as an actor in Bombay, I felt were very similar because the probabilities of both things are very thin. The struggles are insane. It's just that one is a little more linear than the other. One, there is a structure, there is coaching, and a sure shot way of finding out how it is done. The other one is very subjective and involves a lot more unpredictability because there is not a fixed way.

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He continued, "But what really is common between the two is this emotional roller coaster ride that you go through, which I feel is with everything. If you are trying to achieve something in life, which is something many people do, like being a cricketer or a sportsperson or anything worth your time, it comes at the cost of a lot of time, friendships and relations. We leave our families behind, and that was pretty strong. That was very personal while reading this story of how our protagonist also leaves the family behind to pursue a dream. That's something I'm also doing since last 13-14 years in the city now." Created and written by Sameer Mishra, the ensemble cast of the SonyLIV series also features Girija Oak Godbole, Pradnya Motghare, Abhishek Ranjan, Keshav Mehta, Jai Kishan, Ashish Raghav, Ajay Chakraborty, and Rajendra Bhatia. The drama show is directed by Nishil Sheth.