Shabir Ahluwalia: I’d Choose Abhi Of Kumkum Bhagya Over Jaiveer Maalik From Fixerr

Shabir Ahluwalia is the reigning heartthrob of Indian television. The handsome actor is popular as Abhishek Mehra aka Rockstar Abhi from Zee TV show Kumkum Bhagya. The telly series has been enjoying a triumphant run for five years now! In a double treat for his fans, Shabir is set to make his digital debut with ZEE5 Original and ALTBalaji Original web series Fixerr. He will be seen as playing a Delhi cop Jaiveer Maalik who enters the dark murky underbelly of Mumbai crime mafia.

In an exclusive conversation, Shabir recently spoke to us about Fixerr, what kept him away from the web space and more. Read the excerpts from our chat below.

What made you choose Fixerr as your web debut vehicle? We are sure you must have been offered projects earlier.

I did get offers earlier, some scripts were rubbish, some were really good. I couldn’t do a web series earlier because of a lack of time. They require a good 30-40 days at a stretch but with ALTBalaji and Fixerr, I could manage my time. The script is very entertaining, it’s full-on masala entertainer. It basically is a Bollywood flick on your phone or tablet screens. Nobody really has attempted a masala kind of content before, they have all been content-based, dark and subject-based. This is entertainment, just sit and enjoy. It is in a fun zone but with lots of twists and turns.

Go on…

I wanted to entertain my audiences. I have been doing that for a long time. I thought I am coming on digital, I should do it with a bang, with something that’s larger-than-life, people can sit back and enjoy. I thought Fixerr would be the right platform, the right show to debut with.

Tell us about your character, Jaiveer Maalik

Jaiveer Maalik is a fixer. He is basically a tainted cop who goes berserk and ruthless. He goes OTT on OTT. He is bad news if you come across him. Because even after he has fixed you, he won’t leave you.

And if you had to choose between Abhi and Jaiveer, who would you pick?

Both, actually. But if I had to pick one, it’d be Abhishek Mehra aka Abhi because I have played him for a longer time. Having said that, I really like Jaiveer Maalik because he is crazy. Everything about Abhi is OTT because he is a rockstar whereas Jaiveer is subtle.

Were you juggling between Kumkum Bhagya and Fixerr shoot? How was the experience?

Yes. Juggling between Kumkum Bhagya and Fixerr wasn’t so difficult actually. After every four to five days of shooting the series, I’d shoot one day for the TV show. They are two very different roles, so obviously the switch on and switch off was there. In totality, I really enjoyed the process.

What kept you away from the web-space all this while?

Lack of good scripts and time. That is it. I couldn’t manage to do it earlier, that’s why I didn’t. Now when I could, I did.

Fixerr starts streaming on ZEE5 from 7 October 2019. Yay or nay – what do you think of Shabir’s maiden web series? Catch the trailer of Fixerr here and decide for yourself