Confessions of an angry man

Jack of all trades is what Akshay Dogra has truly been. Reporting, assisting, producing, he has done it all but the one thing that took this Delhi lad to Mumbai was his passion for writing.

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Currently playing Jagan Pawania, negative lead in ongoing show Waaris, Akshay is happy taking on the mantle of someone so farfetched from the real Akshay. The actor talks of his inning in the small screen, the highs and lows of it.

Totally humble, he makes no bones on how long it took him to be an actor. Like he would never get the ‘crying’ part right. On the sets, once as he took too long, the director was fed up, he himself was fed up, that it finally clicked. “It was as if something had changed, for ever. You know one chooses acting but then there is a point when you become truly addicted,” shares the actor, who still gets goose-bumps when he is able to deliver the scene just right. “I am giving a wrong example but it is like a drug high, one in front of cameras that’s where you want to stay.”

For a decade that’s what he has done, some writing in-between and he is not that happy the way the telly has taken a turn for the worse. “Content has taken a hit and that’s lots to do with us having a short attention span .”

With shows taking a daily than weekly turn, it sure has increased the workload. Despite injury, Akshay has continued to shoot daily for the track right now focuses around him and his character demands lots of physical prowess. Jagan is an angry man and pulls out the double-barrel gun at slightest provocation. “I am doing my best to keep fit and deliver.”

With an 8 am to 8 pm shift almost daily, it is imperative that co-stars become important part of one another’s life. And, no rifts ever reported for Akshay ever. “How difficult it is to be positive,” he question. Respecting other’s space and staying within his, has earned Akshay lots of friends in the industry. “It works to have a good vibe going when the work is so demanding.”

Whatever little time is left, earlier that would go to travelling with his wife but is now spent taking care of 8-month-old son Ivaan and this is mere incidental that Dostoevsky makes the most significant literary influence for Akshay.

Reading has continued as has his writing. In fact, poems are what Akshay often posts on his social media. “Yes. The dream was to write and direct my own stories, but then life has other plans,” he signs off.

—Mona