'Jugaad Mania' fame Chandan Anand shares about his journey

Mumbai: In a quick chit chat session with IndianTelevision.com, the anchor of "Jugaad Mania" Chandan Anand shared his experience of being a part of the Epic channel show. He also opened up about how this show turned into an opportunity for him to meet some of the talented and creative minds of the nation.

"Jugaad Mania" is a show about unique innovators, who have made an immense impact on society by their unique innovations with minimal or near to none resources. “It was an opportunity for me to share my real self and that’s what you will see in the show - the real me, I am thankful to the entire team and my director Ranjeet for believing in me,” stated Anand.

From his first film "Mr Ya Miss" to "Gunjan Saxena," we have seen Anand in some really impressive characters. On being asked how "Jugaad Mania" fit in among the characters he has played so far, he said that he’s trained to create different characters on screen. “As a trained actor, I have honed my skills to create different characters on screen and so far I have been lucky to portray varied roles,” he highlighted.

He believes that actors get guided by the script and director’s vision and as an actor, his job is to bring out different shades of human characters to make them enthralling and justify the character that he plays.

Talking about "Jugaad Mania," Anand feels it is a unique show by Epic channel, and he has been lucky to be part of the channel with "Dharmkshetra" and "Rabindranath Tagore Stories" by Anurag Basu as he always loved its content.

"When I was asked to test for the anchor’s part in 'Jugaad Mania' with just a few lines, I liked the concept and wanted to be a part of it. It was my gut feeling that the journey would be fun-filled with learnings for life," he said.

Sharing how he conducts himself with this show, Anand said, "actors are dreamers, each one has a dream to make it big in this ‘Maya Nagari’ and it’s just their belief that makes them strive for bigger things in the city."

He elucidated his points by sharing his story. “When I came to Mumbai in 2004, I had just Rs 2000 in my pocket. I just knew one thing: I have the skills of an actor and I need roles, I need platforms to showcase my skills and I will achieve it. So there was an idea, a dream and how would that happen I didn’t know. Just the belief had made me stick to my work, this city. So, a dream is a common thread with this show - Jugaad Mania. All the Jugaadus are dreamers; they had an idea and wanted to make it a reality without any professional training or knowledge, but it was their belief that kept them going and not give up. Stories of their struggle and success are what makes this show unique,” Anand said.

Furthermore, he also shared how this show allowed him to explore different territories as a professional with the variety of new content offered on the platform. 

Anand thinks that there’s a wave of unique content around the world and it’s the best time for all the artists and creatives to explore and experience all the unique content creation happening on various platforms. “So far I have explored many varied characters and roles and this show is definitely on top of my list. It’s a blessing and I am very much hopeful for a fulfilling future,” he noted.

From a maker's perspective, there are various factors that play a crucial role in deciding the success of  a particular show. But from an actor’s perspective, how do you decide what works for a particular show? Anand answered, as an actor, the first lesson we are taught is not to ‘decide,’ but just be. Where you are not performing but are living the part, role, or character; and that comes with years of training.

Sharing his experience of preparing for "Jugaad Mania," he said, before every story, it was really important for me to listen and understand the life journey of every person. I used to ask a million questions, which might not be used in the show but I wanted to know the emotion which ignited each one of them to achieve who they are today.

Despite all the efforts, audiences’ mood remains unpredictable and with remote control in their hands, you never know what the audience is looking for!

On being asked what extra he has made to ensure that the audience is not switching to other channels, Anand took a hilarious route. He jokingly said, “Agar main kahun, ek second bhi nazar padi to hata nahi paoge.”

Further, keeping the jokes aside, he said it is true even if for a second someone tunes in to "Jugaad Mania" on the Epic channel, they will watch it not for me but for such amazingly interesting, motivating stories from varied regions of India.

“India is a nation of all seasons and all reasons. This show has some unique creative talents, their real stories, with different colourful locales, music, and of course me. So don’t miss it. Phir mat kehna bataya nahi,” he uttered.

While the world has been on a halt ever since the first lockdown was imposed and no doubt film and TV is one of the severely hit industries during this time. During such hard times, it was the urge of going out and traveling which motivated Anand to be a part of this show.