Paras Kalnawat breaks silence on exit from 'Anupamaa': 'Hardly had any role, was made to just stand in background'

It came as a shocker for fans of one of the most loved daily soaps, 'Anupamaa', after makers of the show announced that the services of actor Paras Kalnawat have been terminated due to an alleged breach of contract.

The Free Press Journal got in touch with Paras, who played the ideal mumma's boy Samar in 'Anupamaa', and spoke at length about his side of the story, his participation in upcoming dance-based reality show 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10', and more.

The actor shared that the reason for his exit from the show was wrongly worded. "The entire episode was quoted in a very wrong taste. There was no 'breach of contract'. I had already informed them that I was doing 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10', and producer Rajan Shahi told me that he will see what he can do. But then the makers gave out the statement that I've breached the contract and terminated it. I was not even aware that they were going to do something like that," he shares.

Paras reveals that he was not satisfied with his role as well, and even after him raising his concerns multiple times, no action was taken against them. "In the past one year, I had nothing to do on the show. I hardly had two minutes of screen time in the episodes. There have even been long scenes of 18-20 pages, but my character just stood in the background, without a single dialogue. I spoke about it to the makers but I did not see any action being taken," he states.

He continues, "I was promised several times that my track will be starting soon, but that never happened either. I even cancelled a couple of my professional tours abroad because the makers said that they will be starting my track. And everytime it happened that right after I cancelled my trip, they shot with me for a day, and then I had nothing to do for the rest of the week. And all this while, my track never even began."

"But even then, I was not upset with them. I understand that it is a normal thing in the television industry. It's just that I got an opportunity to participate in 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10', and I chose to not miss it this time," he adds.

The saying 'Every end is a new beginning' holds true for Paras. The actor, who became a household name with 'Anupamaa', is now aiming to create an identity of his own with 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10'. "Wherever I go, people recognise me as Samar. But now, I want people to know me as Paras Kalnawat, and not anyone else, and 'Jhalak...' is my first step towards it," he mentions.

Shedding light on his tryst with dance, Paras admits that he is not sure if he is a good dancer, but he is surely a good learner. "I had learnt the basics of dance from Terrence Lewis academy long back, and I have explored bits of Jazz, Bollywood and Hip-Hop. Classical dance forms are something which will be a challenge for me as I have not done them before. But if need be, I am sure I'll quickly pick it up. I am quite good that way!" he quips.

On a parting note, Paras says, "Let bygones be bygones", and avers that he wants to try his hand at all kind of things. "I do not want to get typecast in my career. I don't want the audience to only have this image of a positive boy-next-door when they speak of me. I want to play a variety of roles, and I am sure I'll kill it every time!" he concludes.