Faizabad-born actor Yogendra Vikram Singh became a household name after he played Samrath in Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin. He recently bid goodbye to the show and though he is emotional about his track ending, he is also happy that he got a call from his favourite actress Rekha.

He says, “It was Rekha ji who had introduced my track in the show. It was an emotional moment when she called to tell me how she liked my journey in the show and that she was going to miss seeing me in it. It really made my journey more worthwhile. In fact, not many people know this, but my character had to die very early in the show. However, because it was so loved by viewers, it got an extension. Now, I have finally made an exit.”

Yogendra, who has been part of films like Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Baabarr, NH10 and Saand Ki Aankh among others, says he is happy working on the small screen. “With just one TV show my followers increased manifold on social media. Such is the power of this medium. Ab woh din aa gaye hai when people recognize me and now I don’t have to introduce myself to people every time. It is a good feeling,” he says.

So what next? “I would now like to play a lead character in a TV show, whether it is a positive lead or a negative. Plus, I have a film titled Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan, too, and a couple of OTT projects as well,” he says.

Actor Yogendra Vikram Singh is on cloud nine these days. Well, the actor not only got a chance to meet his favourite actress Rekha a while ago, but the two even exchanged some funny banter. “It was Rekha ji who had introduced my track in the show Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin. It was a surprise for me to meet her at the wedding reception of Neil (Bhatt) and Aishwarya (Sharma). The best part of the encounter was that Rekha ji herself recognised me and shared anecdotes from the episodes that she saw. I was completely in awe of her when I saw her and interacted with her,” says Yogendra.

Having been a part of films like Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Baabarr, NH10, Mirza Juuliet, Trapped, and Saand Ki Aankh, ask Yogendra about his television stint and he says, “I was skeptical about doing TV earlier as I had a lot of misconceptions about the medium. For example, I thought shooting hours are really long in this industry and that the quality of shows is not that great. But then aisa nahi hua when I started doing Ghum Hai...Over these months, I have realised that actually it isn’t so difficult to do television. In fact, the medium with this one show has made me a household name.”

Does he feel that men have lesser screen space on TV as the medium is said to be dominated by women? “I don’t think there is a blanket rule for TV. At the end of the day, it all depends on the script. The issue about screen space can happen on any television. I don’t think much about the screen space and I am happy with my share of screen time in the show,” he says.

Yogendra Vikram Singh was recently reintroduced in the TV show Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin and the actor is glad to be back. “I have come back to the show after eight months. I was away for so long, but I was still getting queries from inquisitive fans about my return. This medium made me a household name after doing just a few episodes,” he shares.

Yogendra started his career with the movie NH10. He then did films like Trapped and Mirza Juuliet. Talking about how he got into television, he says, “Mirza Juuliet was directed by Rajesh Ram Singh. That’s where I met him. He offered me the role in Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin; he is one of the producers of this show. Before coming on board for Ghum Hai... I was in Dubai doing a Broadway show as a lead actor for two years. After a while, I got bored, resigned from there and returned to Bollywood and did films like Saand Ki Aankh and Gunjan Saxena.”

Born in Faizabad in UP, Yogendra completed his B.Sc from Lucknow University. It was during his college days that he started doing theatre. “One of my friends had introduced me to theatre and I immediately developed a liking for the medium. I wanted to join the National School of Drama (NSD) or the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). I remember how hard I prepared for the entrance of NSD, but I couldn’t clear it. I eventually got through FTII Pune,” he says.