Actor Chetan Hansraj, who has been part of the Indian entertainment industry for over four decades, is still remembered for playing some of the most iconic negative characters on television.He started as a child artist back in the 80s, and later went on to become a household name with his roles as Sasha in ‘Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii’ and Garv in ‘Kkusum’. Over the years, he has created a strong identity for himself as one of the most recognised faces when it comes to negative roles on the small screen.His body of work includes popular daily soaps like ‘Kkavyanjali’, ‘Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai’, ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’, ‘Baa Bahoo Aur Baby’, ‘Jodha Akbar’, ‘Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev’, ‘Mahakali – Anth Hi Aarambh Hai’, ‘Naagin 3’ and ‘Shiv Shakti – Tap Tyaag Tandav’.Talking about how content consumption has changed and what OTT has done for actors, Chetan said, “Actually, OTT platforms have given a new lease of life to actors because a different kind of performance is expected there – more realistic, more like what you expect in real life. While television is a little over the top and movies are fantastically over the top, I personally prefer OTT shows over any other platform.”The actor, who has managed to stay fit despite long shooting hours, also spoke about maintaining a healthy lifestyle while doing television.He said, “I think controlling your diet is the most important thing for television actors, or actors in general, who don’t have too much time. You can squeeze in your workouts in between, but on a regular basis, if you are doing a running show and shooting for twelve hours and then going home, maintaining your diet and going for long walks is the best way to maintain your lifestyle.”Apart from acting, Chetan has now taken up a completely different role behind the scenes. He is heading the AI division at Balaji Telefilms.Opening up about his new responsibility, he said, “I am the Head of AI at Balaji Telefilms. We are one of the leading AI teams right now. We did one show for Netflix. We have done a lot of AI work for movies and for many other shows. AI is the future and we are creating amazing content with AI. You will see it soon.”Besides fiction shows, Chetan has also been part of reality shows like ‘Fear Factor India’, ‘Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao’ and ‘Lock Upp’.On the big screen, he has featured in Bollywood films such as ‘Bodyguard’, ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara’, ‘Shootout at Wadala’ and ‘Hero’, among others.
