Shikhar Dhawan put all his ‘heart and soul’ into acting classes for his chat show ‘Dhawan Karenge’

New Delhi: Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, who is all set to debut as a host with ‘Dhawan Karenge’, shared about the nervousness he felt while shooting for the chat show, saying that he took acting classes.

Talking to IANS, Shikhar shared that how his heart skipped a beat when he was going for the show for the first time.

“Mera dil zaroor dhak dhak kia jab mai pehli baar show ke liye jaa raha tha. Jab maine Akshay paaji ke saath shoot kia to mera dil dhak dhak kar raha tha, I could feel ki jaise match me hota tha na, wo nervousness aati hain… which is very good, very normal. Then it happened, I was smiling, I didn’t expect that it will happen,” the left-handed batsman told IANS.

Calling himself a very confident man, Shikhar, who is fondly known as the ‘Gabbar’ of the Indian cricket team, said: “I was like I will pull it off and I like to prepare. So, before going to the show, I took some acting classes. Usme padhai karai gayi. Maine kaha acting to ho nahi rahi hai, isme padha rahe hain zyada. So, I did all the preparation in one to two months. And then I just jumped in. I had put in my all heart and soul.”

On the USP of the show, Shikhar, who plays for ‘Punjab Kings’ in the Indian Premier League commented: “There are many talk shows already, so I asked my team that if I do talk show then how will it be different. Mera bhi yahi sawal tha ki mai kya alag karunga? So my team made me realise that like my personality is different, all of you know me as a cricketer, you might not know me as a person.”

“My sense of humour, spontaneity, cheekiness, energy and vibe — there are many aspects to every individual. All those things will come in my show. There will be soulful, funny talks and some games, so it will be a mix blend of everything,” he said.

During the shoot of the show, Shikhar even realised the value of a scriptwriter.

“When the scriptwriter wrote the show synchronising my personality with it, then I thought yes it’s a different thing. I said ‘ab maza aa raha hai mujhe’,” he said.

Shikhar, who is poised to bring forth his A-game, said the idea of the show came from his team.

“Of course as a cricketer, I am ageing, I have played for so many years, and since I am not there in the Indian team for a long time… I have shown my entertainment side and lived it through Reels, so I felt that I had that thing that I can start something in the entertainment field,| he said.

“I talked to my team about my dream and then that dream turned into a reality. My team worked hard and then we came up with this talk show,” he said.

The first guest of the show will be Bollywood’s ‘Khiladi’, Akshay Kumar.

‘Dhawan Karenge’ will air on JioCinema Premium from May 20.

IANS