13th Star Gagan Dev Riar Names Hansal Mehta, Mira Nair As Mentors, Reveals Pause On Acting Career For Music | EXCL

Known for his roles in Sonchiriya, Costao, A Suitable Boy and Scam 2003, Gagan Dev Riar's latest series sees him play teacher MT Sir in SonyLIV's 13th: Some Lessons Aren't Taught in Classrooms . As the

Hindi series explores the relationship between mentor and mentee, the actor spoke about his inspirations; the directors he has worked with. Gagan also shared that he's pursuing music again amid an acting break.

Gagan Dev Riar on the filmmakers who have inspired him

Speaking to Zoom, the actor stated that he had to make big decisions from a young age. He said, "I have been alone my entire life since the age of 15-16. I had to follow my own instincts and intuitions. And I did that. There are many [mentors] through that journey; I can't name one person whose ideas I followed or who supported me throughout. They came in the shape of friends, relatives, or, say, directors or the co-actors that I worked with."

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Gagan continued, "They are not my mentors, but I would like to shape my life according to that ideology, because I really like their ideology and the way they work. It's Mr. Hansal Mehta Sir and Mira Nair, the two directors I had the opportunity to work with. When I saw them working, when I saw them on the set with the way they conduct themselves, the way they live their lives. What their thoughts are about arts, culture, politics, or anything that is related to our life today. They really inspired me." ALSO READ: 13th's Gagan Dev Riar On Meeting Mohit Tyagi, Using His Dialogues In Show: Saw That Honesty - Exclusive

Gagan Dev Riar's acting break

The actor went on to say that he is at a point in his career where he is wondering what path to choose. He stated, "After Scam, 13th, and everything, I was going through a little churning process of where do I want to go from here? I'm also a singer. I'm a musician, and I used to play guitar once, and somehow because of the acting commitments and everything, it got left behind. Now I'm just taking this time to come back to music.

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"I'm already writing songs, and I'm starting practicing my guitar. So I'm just going to take this time for myself to rediscover what is there inside me, more than just acting or just doing those same kind of roles and just showing up on the shoot, doing your job, and coming back home. We chose this career because we did not want to do that nine-to-five thing, and now I feel in my career that I've been doing this routine for a very long time. So I'm just taking my time, working on my music, and let's see where it goes," he concluded.Directed by Nishil Sheth, 13th: Some Lessons Aren't Taught in Classrooms also stars Paresh Pahuja. The SonyLIV series premiered on October 1.