I'm meeting some filmmakers and trying my luck in Bollywood: Dheeraj Dhoopar

Television actor Dheeraj Dhoopar, who’s parting ways with Sasural Simar Ka, the daily soap he has been starring in for the last four years, says there’s a flipside to the decision. Popular as his onscreen name, Prem, the actor says the audience slowly starts connecting with your character.

“When they think about Prem, they will think of my face. Now [one would think] that’s good, but at the same time, being associated with a show for such a long time means that when they will see me in a new character, my biggest challenge will be to build everything from scratch for them and etch a new character in their minds,” says Dhoopar.

The show’s other lead actor, Dipika Kakar — popular as her character name Simar — also recently quit the show to focus on her personal life.

As for Dhoopar, he’s on a mission to find new opportunities to expand his career, and is eyeing Bollywood. “I’m meeting some filmmakers and trying my luck in Bollywood. I would love to do a biopic,” says the 32-year-old.

Does this mean no more television for him? “No! I’d love to do more television shows as long as my character is something new. I want something (a role) with grey shades. I also love characters that have a certain element of mystery attached to it and that’s what I’m looking forward to do next,” he adds.

Another genre that Dhoopar wants to take up is romance. “I’ve always said that I want to do romantic shows. When I came to this industry, I always wanted to play a romantic hero. At that time, I didn’t know anything about the industry... I know that my fans also want to see me do such a role,” he says.