Web stars and well-known faces Rohan Shah and Apoorva Arora talk about their new show Firsts, their experience of working together with each other and a lot more.
What new can a channel do when it comes to web-series? Online platforms are flooded with a number of them and talk about all things under the sky. But Pocket Aces has a new web-series that manages to stand out with their new Instagram web-series Firsts starring Rohan Shah & Apoorva Arora. Firsts talks about high school romance in 1-min episodes which are released on the channels Instagram page. The actors recently spoke to us about being a part of Firsts and a lot more.
What was your reaction to the story and the 1-min episode format for Firsts?
Apoorva quipped, "Considering the fact that I had been a part of a video like this “School Romance” which did really well for Filter Copt and my career as well. I wanted to be a part of this as I could not imagine somebody else doing it. Secondly, I was sceptical about the one-minute videos and thought how will we manage to tell a whole story, but when I got to know Naina would be directing this I was like, this is one person I really trust. I call her the Bhansali of FC, she captures emotions very well and she is very good with it so I just decided to stick to her vision and go with the flow."
To which Rohan further added, "When they called me they told me that this is the first Instagram show, that was intriguing enough. Then I asked them to send the script once because I wanted to know how they’re writing it. And it was so cute. Mene first do episode hi pade and I was like, mein yeh kar raha hu. Because it's Cadbury like and 15-year-old thinking that he is a man."
When asked the duo how working together again was, Apoorva said: "It is always fun! So, this was our first time working together on a proper show and like a longer schedule together. Before that, we had done videos and we had that chemistry together. So the first time we shot together he (Rohan) spent the entire day pulling my leg which is why this time I came prepared with my defences so it was great and it was fun."
Sharing his excitement about working with Apoorva on this, Rohan said, "Ah, pathetic (laughs). We've been working for two years now and we are always paired up together, so we already share a very comfortable vibe. Our energy is synchronized and it shows on screen also and I'm happy."
We asked the actors if they had any first fights or arguments while shooting or were very cordial with each other and Apoorva promptly replied saying, “No, it was all fun, no fights! The first ever time that we shoot together we were fighting like cousins; it was weird that we were paired against each other."
While Rohan laughed it off saying, “Hum life mein fight karte rahte hai, I think vo normal hai (We fight in real life too, it’s quite normal). We keep pulling each other’s leg.”
Reminiscing about his first impression of his co-star, Rohan shared, "School Romance was the first time we met. No, wait, it was during the Perk commercial. We were together on set, but we shot for different ads. It's been 7-8 years now, I don't remember what was our first impression. I had watched 'Oh My God' and I told her about the movie. It was a sweet first impression and then I realised it was all wrong." (Both laugh)
While Apoorva joked, "The first time I saw him I think it was at an audition I thought, 'Oh ye toh wo ad mein aata tha bacha, he still looks so young' (laughs). I think in 20-30 years from now there will be a show starring Rohan shah and Apoorva’s daughter."
We further probed the two to share any interesting firsts that they might have experienced on the sets of the show and here’s what we found out...
Rohan shared, “Can't say it happened for the first time, but when I would meet my friends after the shoot, they would just look at me and go, “Tu bohot chota lag raha hai suddenly. 15 saal ka bacha lag raha hai.” Just the vibe of it, because we are shooting a high school romance, I’d physically started looking like that. So, that was something I noticed that without saying anything it was showing on me.”
Apoorva told us, "Oh yeah. So, I’ve been an actor for a couple of years and have somehow never been late to work because anxiety, it helps me punctual. So, this is the first time I woke up an hour and a half late and managed to reach the set just 15 mins after my call time which was fortunate but this was the first time, I overslept on a shoot day. So, that was my first."
Talking about their prep for the roles, they said...
Rohan, "There wasn't any prep as such. I think kaafi nostalgic zone mein humlog chale gaye the. Memories from 15 years ago were flooding back. Like between scenes I would realise that this was the first time that I was feeling older. There were people on the set who are actually 17 years old and it hit me that I am 10 years elder to them. So I am 25 years old, I'm playing a 15-year-old and he is trying to act 20. And that is when I was like, wow, I'm older and wiser."
To which Apoorva added,
"We had readings for sure, post that everything was on set. We were sort of in-character and I personally don’t like preparing so much, it sort of takes away the fun of the whole process. So, on set we had readings right before the scene, sometimes we had to change the entire scene, just because we felt like it (laughs), just because we thought it would work better on a particular location. So, we just went with the flow."
Lastly, when asked about working with Viraj, here's what the actors revealed,
Rohan said, "I have worked with him earlier as well. Apart from acting with each other, he has also acted when I'm producing. He is one of my good friends so we were just having fun, it didn't feel like a shoot when we're working together. Also, I have worked with Dice for 2 years. I genuinely feel most comfortable on the sets, feels like I am home."
Apoorva who also is also close friends with Viraj said, "I hoped we would’ve had more working days because he is one of my closest friends. He is somebody who knows everything about my life and I know everything about his so, we treated this shoot to update each other about everything that's happening in our lives."
Check out the first episode of Firsts here and the rest on Dice Media's Instagram feed:
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