Actor Sham Mashalkar, who is currently being seen in the second season of Sasural Genda Phool, has done more than 250 ads in the last 16 years. He has shared screen with actors like Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Jimmy Shergill, Rana Dagubatti, Katrina Kaif, Ranveer Singh, Genelia D’Souza, Nana Patekar and Kareena Kapoor. He has done ads with brands like Cadbury, Hindustan Times, Mentos, Volkswagen PassatIndia, some international ads, Indiatimes.com, Lays and many more.
Speaking about his journey in the ad world Sham says,”My first ad was of Mentos- Dimag Ki Batti Jala De. In those days I was an assistant director and I also used to give auditions for advertisements. After that, I did many commercials for banks like Kotak Mahindra, Indusland banks. I shot ads with directors like Imtiaz Ali also. Within sometime a buzz was created in the market.” He also adds, “I did an ad for Coca-Cola International and was selected among 500 people in the audition which went on for 5 days.”
Sham also shares one of his fondest memories with the ultimate Khiladi Kumar. “Once Akshay Kumar had come for the promotion of his film Khatta Meetha and I met him and told him that my wife Rasika is really a very big fan of yours. Then he gave me an autograph on the name of my wife. He had written- ”dear Rasika, have an action-packed baby.” After that, we had a baby boy and we gave him the name Aarav because Akshay sir’s son’s name is also Aarav. It was a lovely and inspirational experience working with him. On the other hand, Ranbir Kapoor is a very naughty prankster and is extremely friendly. I remember that during the film premiere of Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani, I met his mom Neetu Kapoor who also came and I told her that she was my first crush when I saw her in the song Chookar Mere Mann Ko . She told me that Sham I have seen you in ads and you are really good.” As a performer what do you feel how difficult is to convey a message through an advertisement?
“Once Aamir Khan had told me that working in an advertisement is difficult as there are many ads that he has done which are just of 10 seconds and maximum of 30 seconds or 60 seconds. In a 30 second ad, 5 seconds goes into establishment and another 5 seconds of the brand so in 20 seconds you have to tell the whole story. I remember one of my directors whose name was Rajesh used to bring a stopwatch and used to tell me how to act and react in every second. People think that working in ads is easy. I have even worked for 2-3 days for a 30-second ad. Every ad requires a gist that is based on the script. The X factor in the ad is based on the actor.”
Whoever has seen Sham knows Sham has this lean profile with curly hair and an unusual personality. So does his look work for him? “Yes I think so. I am lean and I like to be lean. Rensil D’Silva who is a renowned director is also a renowned writer. He had told me that my personality is very refreshing and secondly whatever I do I do with full commitment. Also, he said that I have a very registrable ability. I did not know what a registrable ability was but then later I found out. When I was in college, we used to bunk and go to the canteen and my class teacher also used to point out to me first and used to ask me about it. He also said that I have such features in me that people who see me once can’t forget me which is a plus point. I must say Advertisement is my first love. Because of the ad, I got films and now I am doing TV and OTT so I am thankful to the advertisements. I am looking forward to doing many more good advertisements in the near future.”
