Image was shared on Instagram. (courtesy: vivekvmashru)
New Delhi:
Former CID actor Viivek Mashru became a household name overnight after the Internet discovered what he has been up to after quitting acting. The former actor, who now works at a University, recently had a chat with Hindustan Times where he talked about his life away from the spotlight and on losing privileges he got as a result of playing a cop in CID. The transition, from being an actor to a non-actor was tough, admitted Viivek while recalling his acting days when nobody would let him pay toll tax or would arrange for “VIP darshan” when he visited Shirdi.
Talking about his journey, he told Hindustan Times, “From being an actor where there’s so much adulation- toll naake pe they would not take tolls from me if I ever broke a signal the police would stop me, realise I am in CID, salute and let me go after an autograph if I went to Shirdi, they would take me for VIP darshan… to then travelling normally by bus, waiting in queues, the transition was difficult.- But by God’s grace I had a good ecosystem.”
Viivek Mashru played the role of inspector Vivek in CID for six years until he quit acting in the year 2012. However, talking to Hindustan Times, Viivek revealed that his contract for the show was initially for only 3 months but the creators kept extending it indefinitely.
About landing the role in CID, Viivek recollected, “I had trained under Kishore Namit, and then my mom told me that the makers of CID are looking out for an officer’s role. They had an all-India competition Operation Talaash. I auditioned and was selected. My nana-nani were ardent fans of the show and watched it diligently. Just before my casting was announced, my nana passed away, I was very emotional.”
It so happened that last week a meme page shared a throwback picture of the actor and wrote, “If you know him, your childhood was awesome.” Responding to this, a user tweeted, “He is a professor at my brother’s college now, not even kidding.” As predicted, the Twitter thread exploded with inquisitive users demanding to get more information about the concerned person. In the comments section, the aforementioned user mentioned what he teaches. “Design thinking, let me ask for a picture of him teaching wait,” read the comment.
See the Twitter thread here:
He is a professor at my brother’s college now, not even kidding 😭 https://t.co/gut9qm3pHo
— Monika Sharma (@hereformonika) June 21, 2023
However, Viivek, who was humbled by the response he got from the Internet, clarified in a chat with Hindustan Times that he is not a professor as mentioned on Twitter. “I am flattered they think that. I oversee the function of an entire department in the university, it’s a leadership position. I am transitioning out of that too now in July, and getting into launching new schools,” Viivek said, clearing the air.
CID, which aired on Sony Tv, was based on solving murder mysteries led by Shivaji Satam (ACP Pradyuman), Senior Inspectors Aditya Srivastava (Abhijeet) and Dayanand Shetty (Daya) in lead roles.
