Saurabh Pandey

Saurabh Pandey
Saurabh in September 2008 at a photo shoot
Born	(1985-05-11) 11 May 1985 New Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Television Actor Film Actor Film & TV Producer
Years active	2005-Present
Relatives	Gaurav Pandey (Brother) Neha Pandey (Sister)

Saurabh Pandey^[1] (born 11 May 1985) is an Indian Television and Bollywood actor. He is known for his great acting skills and muscular physique. His debut TV show as lead was Siddharth Basu's^[2] first Fiction TV show Jiya Jale^[3][4][5] for 9X TV in (2007). He later essayed the role of Shaurya in his second TV show titled “Shaurya aur Suhani”^[6] for Star Plus channel. He also played the role of main protagonist in shows like Tere Mere Sapne^[7] and Ganga kii Dheej. Saurabh is also the Managing Director of his film production company known as (White Light Army Pictures). Saurabh is known for his techno-freak nature plus talents such a cinematography, film direction and editing. Saurabh believes in making meaningful cinema which can bring about a change in the lives of people in a positive way.

Early life and education

Saurabh was born in New Delhi, India to Hindu Brahmin parents. He started his education at St. Mark's Senior Secondary School, Janakpuri. At the age of 9 he was inspired by Steven Spielberg's film Jurassic Park. That was the turning point of his life that triggered his interest for cinema. At nine years of age, Saurabh designed and built a robotic dinosaur (Brachiosaurus) powered by pneumatic cylinders. The model stood 30 feet tall and 25 feet long. Saurabh built this dinosaur with the help of the laborer’s team from his father’s chair manufacturing factory (Geeken Seating Collection Pvt. Ltd). Saurabh’s ambitious Dinosaur Project took him three years to complete in which he sacrificed all his school holidays, working away on his dinosaur. Once his dinosaur was completed, Saurabh became a local celebrity and an inspiration for other children his age. Saurabh’s fascination for creation continued well into his adolescence. He’d make stop motion films with his dad’s video camera and his LEGO toys. Saurabh furthered his education in Mussoorie where he studied at Mussoorie Modern School for six months and then later went on to complete his education at SelaQui International School, Dehradun. Saurabh adapted many leadership skills while at SelaQui International School where he excelled in sports and was also the captain of the Agni House. It was during these years at SelaQui that Saurabh truly recognized his passion and talent for performing arts. He participated in school dance competitions and dramas there which eventually helped him build the confidence and charisma required to become a performer. Saurabh says SelaQui will always be very close to his heart.

Career

In 2005 Saurabh made the decision to shift to Mumbai, India, the city of his dreams. He took his acting training at Kishor Namit Kapoor’s Acting Institute and Kreating Charakters Acting Studio. His talent was quickly recognized and in no time he was seen in TV commercials and in many Hindi and Punjabi music videos. Saurabh’s hard work also bagged him his first TV show with Siddharth Basu’s Big Synergy,^[8] titled Jiya Jale. The show aired on 9X channel. Jiya Jale was Big Synergy’s first fiction TV show and was hugely promoted by 9X TV around the country. Saurabh essayed the main lead role of Chandan Bhamani and became a household name. Upon the completion of Jiya Jale, he was offered another show in 2008 of July titled, ANGAD, also to be featured on 9X TV. However, due to world stock market crash in 2008, 9X TV was shut down and ANGAD TV show was re-launched by Star Plus^[9][10] as “Shaurya aur Suhani”.^[11]

The romantic action based fantasy drama was produced by Sunjoy Wadhwa’s Sphere Origins. Saurabh played the title role of super hero Shaurya.^[12] With this show, Saurabh gained immense popularity and became a youth icon known for his fit physique and six-pack abs. After Shaurya aur Suhani, Saurabh was offered a show by Star Plus channel in September 2009. The show titled “Tere Mere Sapne”^[13] and was again produced by Sunjoy Wadhwa’s Sphere Origins.^[14] Saurabh played the role of the main protagonist, Sarju, a simple boy from a small village living his life in a big metropolitan city like Mumbai. Saurabh’s was greatly appreciated for his versatility and heart-touching performance. In the year 2010, Saurabh was seen in a TV show titled “Ganja Kii Dheej”. This was a joint venture of Harry Baweja's Baweja Movies and Flying turtle Films. The show aired on Sahara One, and Saurabh played the role of Shivom. After four TV shows, back to back, Saurabh decided to take a break and opened up his own production company, known as "White Light Army Pictures - Enlightening Entertainment".

Current projects

After his last TV show “Ganga Kii Dheej” 2011 Saurabh is working on his film projects for world cinema. His company "White Light Army Pictures" (WLAP) has made a few short films. WLAP’s “The Essense of Mumbai” was selected to be featured in the MAMI Film festival 2012. WLAP and Saurabh also directed and produced the “Iskon Non-stop 3 day Kirtan 2013 Documentary 2013”. His company also did visual effect work for Sanjay Leela Bhanasli’s magnum opus TV show on Star Plus, “Saraswatichandra". Saurabh is currently busy working on the upcoming ventures of his company, one of which is a TV show and the other is a comedy feature film.

Personal life

Saurabh is the eldest among 3 siblings. His brother, Gaurav Pandey, has become a household face through the many ad films he has been featured in. Saurabh’s sister, Neha Pandey is away from the media glare but is pursuing her career in fashion designing. Romantically, Saurabh says he is with “the love of his life” Soni Barring,^[15] a model, actress and TV anchor from Canada.^[16] During the shoot of Shaurya aur Suhani in 2009, Saurabh fell into the bad company of drugs. After 16 months of continuous substance abuse, Saurabh had made his life miserable. During the shoot of Shaurya aur Suhani and Tere Mere Sapne, people related to the TV industry had started thinking that he is losing himself due to frequent mood swings related to substance abuse. After many ups and down, hardships, and the support of his lady love Soni Barring,^[17] Saurabh succeeded in pulling himself out of drugs in the year 2011.^[18] Since then, Saurabh has been clean and completely speaks in disfavor of substance abuse. He says. “ if you feel that drugs can take you closer to God, make you concentrate better, act better, makes you think sorted then you are highly mistaken and you are calling for more trouble because all of this is nonsense and please don’t give into drugs because they can never do good to anyone.” He gives complete credit to his pillar of strength, Soni Barring and is grateful to all his loved ones who prayed for him and stood by him as he fought his battle against drugs and brought his life back to normalcy. Saurabh is always thankful to God and his miracles. He says, “coming out of drugs is not easy but when you set your mind to something then nothing is impossible.”

TV Shows

Stage performances

References

External links

• Saurabh Pandey at the Internet Movie Database
• White Light Army Pictures, Saurabh's production company's website