November 1, 2024 marks 20 years in the industry for Karan Wahi as his debut show Remix released on the same date two decades ago. Mention that to him and he says, “I realise that I have been an actor for more part of my life than I have not been one. I was 18 when I came and I turned 38 this year. It has been a great journey.” The actor admits that his biggest achievement in these 20 years is that he has managed to stay relevant even after all this while.
“I have done a lot of hard work to reach here but I feel I am one of those lucky ones who’ve managed to stay relevant. And today, being relevant is more important than anything else,” says the actor. He adds that the reason behind that is because he never stopped working. “Back in the day, people would dissuade me for trying out everything as I did acting, hosting, reality shows, OTT, films, TV and all there is. But it’s good that I didn’t listen to those voices and did what I wanted to do. If someone asks me after 50 years life mein kya kiya, I have the answer ki kiya sab kuch. Wo chala nahi chala, wo uski kismat, lekin kiya sab. Just because I did that, the relevance came automatically,” he admits.
Revealing a fun fact about his filmography, Karan informs, “I am an actor who has never done a high TRP show. In all my TV shows, the maximum TRP of any show has been 0.6. So, sometimes I wonder there is someone’s hand on my head. I also feel that I came at a time where while the ratings were important, but you could also make something for yourself out of it.”
Apart from his stint in TV with shows including Dill Mill Gaye and Channa Mereya, Karan also did films like Daawat-e-Ishq, Hate Story 4, and web series including Never Kiss Your Best Friend and Raisinghani Vs Raisinghani. Owing to this, he insists he has an audience amongst all ages of people. “Recently, I had an interesting moment when a fan of mine I had met in my early days came up to me and she was with her 18-year-old daughter. That girl had gotten married when she was 19, and her daughter came up to me and said ‘I love you, I am a big fan’. So, I have made multi-generational fanbase,” he quips.
Wahi admits that while he wants to work more on TV, the kind of content being made doesn’t appeal to him much. “Nobody wants to be the first person to experiment as mishaps have also happened on TV. Also, shows go off air in months today. I hope with time, television becomes better so that a lot of us, who want to work on TV, can work there,” he says, admitting that he misses the nuances of the TV industry that he grew up experiencing in the industry. “I remember Barun (Sobti, actor) had gone after doing a cameo in Dill Mill Gayye to Baat Hamari Pakki Hai as he got a lead there. One day he called me asking that there is a cameo in his show and will I do it. I said yes but that thing I can’t do today as there is nothing for a cameo to do in TV shows. They are just basically unglibaaz. Films still have that thrill of cameos and that excitement of having multiple stars in a project, but that has ended on TV. I miss those elements of TV,” he ends.
