Sudhanshu Pandey's portrayal of Vanraj Shah in Rajan and Deepa Shahi's "Anupamaa" is definitely one of the most challenging yet a career-defining role in his career, and he has managed to leave the audience awestruck by his performance. Whether it be his one raised eyebrow or the smirk, he owns every scene he is a part of while playing a very complicated character on TV currently.
In the show, Vanraj's determination to make it big made him portray himself as a helpless man in front of Malvika (played by Aneri Vajani). In an episode, he tells her that though he has done a lot of mistakes and has hurt Anupamaa (essayed by Rupali Ganguly), he tried to fix them but Anupamaa didn't want to, and then he was forced to marry Kavya (Madalsa Sharma's character). In a surprising turn of events Malvika grew fond of him because she could relate to him about how it feels to be stuck in a relationship.
Asked if Sudhanshu feels that men can sometimes use such stories to their advantage, he said, "I don't think men use anything to gain sympathy or advantage because human beings are alike, be it a man or a woman, they can both use it to their advantage or disadvantage or gain sympathy or not. So it would be unfair to say that men use it sometimes to gain sympathy. It's both ways. Even women can do that and even men can do that."
"It's a human tendency to gain sympathy, but it's not always for the wrong or the bad or with a bad intention. Sometimes you just seek sympathy because it gives you reassurance from your people, from your loved ones, when they come and sympathize with you, so it's just a form of reassurance," he added.
However, the actor agrees that there are times when a man's voice goes unheard. He even stressed that it's expected of a man to do manly things while keeping his emotions at bay.
"Like it's expected of women or a housewife, to take care of the house and the family, it is also completely and totally expected by men or a husband to provide for the family, come what may. Whether he breaks his leg or breaks his bones or breaks his head or loses one eye or whatever, he has to look after the family and provide for them. So obviously being a man they are expected not to cry or to shed tears or to scream but men do take a lot of frustration into them, they take a lot of hardships, and it has a bearing on their mind and their heart. Of course and unfortunately being a man, they can't say it," he said.
"So yes, I think there is equal amount of pressure on men and their voices sometimes because man, after all, is a man and he's got less right to complain. That's what I feel. But having said that a family is incomplete unless there is equal amount of participation from both the ends, whether it's the husband or the wife without the wife's efforts, the family cannot be kept together, so it is equal amount of efforts from both the sides that is needed for a family to grow and the family to succeed and flourish," Sudhanshu concluded.
