Tanvi Trivedi (MID-DAY; February 16, 2014)

Popular telly anchor and actor Manish Paul got picked for Tere Bin Laden 2 while hosting Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. He says, “People thought I was mad, because the earlier part starring Ali Zafar had done very well. That put more pressure on me.”

While shooting for the film, delivering a four-page monologue unnerved him. As the actor says, “I was as nervous as a child is before his exams while shooting that scene. Initially, the shot kept getting postponed and I felt relaxed that it might not happen after all. But finally, the day we decided to shoot this particular sequence, the director asked me to take my time as he had kept three-hours for it. I delivered the lines in one go and the shot was okayed in 15 minutes.”

About both his film and television roles, he says, “Anchoring is impromptu. On the other hand, I have just started doing films. Earlier too, I was offered many roles but didn’t want to do anything.”

Will he let go of TV projects to concentrate only on films, like other actors? “No, I will continue hosting shows. Films have been my first love, but I can’t forget what TV has given me,” he adds.