Small Wonder

Dushyant Wagh is making news for his sensitive portrayal of a mentally challenged boy in Mahesh Manjrekar's Tera Mera Saath Rahen.

A well-known face in the children's theatre circle, this fifteen year old, nicknamed 'Hero' by his friends, says he wants to concentrate only on studies at the moment.

Latika Sidana in conversation with the talented Dushyant.

How did you bag the part of Rahul in Tera Mera Saath Rahen?

In school we have performing arts for two periods anchored by the students where the teachers do not have any say at all.

One of our teachers, Vidya Patwardhan, keeps an eye on us and whoever is good is introduced to producers on the look out for kids.

One day Nilesh Divekar, an assistant of Mahesh Manjrekar, had come to school in search of a suitable boy to play the role and Vidya tai introduced me to him.

How difficult was it to play a mentally challenged role? Did you recieve any special training?

Nilesh Divekar took me to a school for spastics and asked me to observe the kids for fifteen days, after which I was told the shooting would start.

Basically I had those many days to prepare myself.

Which are your other projects?

I am working in a Marathi serial called De Dhamaal which will be aired on Alpha TV.

In fact the shooting of Tera Mera Saath Rahen and De Dhamaal started simultaneously.

These are the only two projects I have done.

How was it working with Ajay Devgan and Sonali Bendre?

It was great.

I had heard that they were big stars and hence snobbish and shrewd and did not talk properly.

This is not true at all. They were all very good to me.

In fact once when Kajol visited the sets she was very nice to me.

Khalid Mohammed has praised your performance in The Sunday Times of India. How do you feel about it?

Recently when I was shooting for De Dhamaal, people on the sets told me about it.

Honestly I haven't read the review because we don't get The Times of India at home, we get The Maharashtra Times so I cannot comment on it.

What is your friends reaction to the role?

It has been positive. In fact they call me the Hero.

What are your hobbies?

I like listening to music besides playing chess, tennis and watching and playing cricket.

After all the appreciation and acclaim that has come your way would you like to pursue a career in films?

I want to complete my graduation,then we will see.