From visiting his old campus, sipping on Sudama’s kulhad wali chai to chilling at Tom Uncle’s Maggi Point — it was a nostalgic trip for the Hansraj College alumnus, actor Abhinav Sharma. The 28-year-old, who visited his alma mater earlier this week, says he joined the college because of their dramatics society and for the love of Shah Rukh Khan. “There’s an ever-present love for the superstar on this campus. He’s definitely a special alumnus His journey has inspired many young artists to be brave and dream unabashedly. So, when you say Hansraj, you think SRK and that will never change,” says Sharma.
Reminiscing his time spent on campus, the Mismatched actor says, “I hardly attended classes and was focused on theatre. But, I feel anyone who’s been a part of the arts circuit in Delhi University will understand when I say you put in all your time and effort into that one society when you join it.” He adds, “We would take our plays to IIT Mumbai, Indore and other big college festivals. Our group used to travel by train and we would sing, play games along the journey. Those are some of the nicest and warmest memories of my college life.”
“Although I’d started doing theatre early on during my school days under the guidance of [teacher] Dilip Shankar, Hansraj was a big step in terms of performance in both street and stage productions. And then, I moved to New York and studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre And Film Institute which helped me immensely with respect to forming a solid base and approach,” he adds.
Did his experiences from college reflect on his character in Mismatched? He replies: “The show says that it’s okay if you’re going through things that are tough to talk about or address, and life will give you a silver lining eventually. So yes, we all made mistakes, but that’s part of growing up. That was my takeaway from college,” he says.
Sharma, says he tries to visit as often as he can, and his favourite hang out spot in the city would be my Nani’s house in GK. “She’s my favourite person, I can chill with her all day long and never get bored. That holds true for all my immediate and extended family. I’m blessed to have them. I love spending time with my dogs, I have four of them and they’re all spoilt brats but they’re the heartbeat of our family. I enjoy chilling with my mom, she’s like a non-stop kitty party and my dad who’s always given my brother and I the best advice, even if sometimes we don’t end up taking it.”
For Sharma, no trip to the Capital is complete without indulging in some Dilli ka khana, especially C-Bats. “Honestly, I’ve had the best chhole bhature in different parts of Delhi, while growing up. And even now, I start drooling when I think about the first bite,” he shares, giving a shoutout to his other hangout spots like Kamla Nagar market and the Vishwavidyalaya metro station area
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