Not part of Total Dhamaal as I am committed to Dev 2: Ashish Chowdhry

Detective dramas are back on television with Dev 2, starring Ashish Chowdhry, Pooja Bose and Jigyasa Singh, launching on Colors. The first season of Dev was a sleeper hit and in an exclusive chat with indianexpress.com, Ashish shared that while they had faith in the show, there were lot of doubts too.
“Dev was a risk that the channel was taking and I was warned that I would be paid less. There was no guarantee of its success but somewhere I knew this show would go on to become a brand. There’s no series on detectives on TV and I knew this was a great opportunity to present something high on quality to the audience. And now that we are already up for the next season, it feels like we have managed to achieve something,” said Ashish.
The actor further said, “As I am signed for this I cannot take up anything else. This is the reason why I am not part of Total Dhamaal or have not done anything else. The film was written without me and though I will miss the team, I am focusing my energy on my show. With this new season, we have set the bar high when it comes to action, storyline and twists. Also, this time we are doing daily, so there’s lot of expectation and pressure riding on us.”
When we asked him if he lost out on good projects because of his exclusivity contract, Ashish smiled to say, “Not at all. I am the hero here. So there can be nothing big than this. The roles that I could not take up can be done by someone else, but here I am getting the opportunity to be the face of Dev. I remember my son once asked my driver that why I am not doing Total Dhamaal and he said, “uss film ka hero Ajay Devgn hai, papa iss show ke hai” (Ajay Devn is the hero of the film while your dad is the hero of this show). I also know that after Dev, the doors to better roles will open up for me.”
While many believe that Ek Muthi Aasman was his first TV project, the actor clarified saying, “Many do not remember that I did Hum Pardesi Hogaye long back in 2001. Yes, when I made a comeback in 2013, fortunes turned overnight and there were lot of love and acclaim coming my way. But after a point I realised the show was going a different way, not what I had signed up for. When I felt that I could never watch this, I chose to opt out. With Dev, every episode is different and we have a fixed script. Also, I am a very annoying actor who notices every minute details. So only quality content is presented to the audience.”
Watch Ashish take charge on Dev 2, every Monday-Friday 10:30 pm, starting tonight June 25 on Colors.