Anupamaa actor Sudhanshu Pandey speaks about how he got a ‘lot of love’ and ‘lots of hate’ for playing Vanraj

Every good TV show needs a good villain, and Anupamaa seems to be the perfect example for that. The Rupali Ganguly-led series features Sudhanshu Pandey as Vanraj, Anupamaa’s devious ex-husband always out to make life more difficult for his ex-wife. Pandey recently opened up about some of the polarising responses he got from the show’s fans when it comes to his character.

In conversation with TOI, the actor opened up about how ‘overwhelmed’ he felt seeing his show become so adored among audiences. He talked about how some fans reacted to Vanraj with a lot of hate, which the actor also considered as a different kind of ‘love’ from audiences. He revealed that a lot of viewers had told him how if it weren't for him, they would have nothing to watch in the show as there would be no ‘drama’ in it.

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But in addition to the love he got, Pandey reveals that he has also been on the receiving end of hate messages. “Honestly speaking if I don’t get these messages I will get worried because then I am not doing something right”, he added.

Crediting the makers for their brilliant execution of the show, Pandey said that he never thought the show would become such a ‘massive hit’. The actor talked about how he had worked on more than 40 films, including big budget movies. He had worked on a Hollywood film, shared the screen with Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar in 2.0 and even acted with Raveena Tandon, Priyanka Chopra and Gracy Singh. But Anupamaa had given him the kind of recognition and popularity none of his films were able to. The actor said that until then, he had not been aware of the popularity and reach of television.

Anupamaa can be streamed on Disney+Hotstar .