Ravi-Sargun: ‘Gurgaon residents have made the city world class’

Ravi Dubey and Sargun Mehta are visiting Gurgaon after almost five months to spend time with their family and to attend a wedding.
Excerpts from a chat with the couple at their Palam Vihar home.
Coming back home after almost five months
Ravi says, “It was a planned visit. Sargun returned to Mumbai on January 26 and we spent the whole day together. We haven’t had so much time together since the beginning of November.I really cherished the time spent with her and we planned a visit to Gurgaon on January 27. The last time I was home was August 15, which was a long time ago. In this business we get three confirmed holidays – January 26, May 1 (Labour Day) and August 15.”
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Proud to be a Gurgaonwallah
Says Ravi, “I am very proud of being a Gurgaon resident. I have lived here since I was four and did my schooling here. Till I was three, my family used to live in Delhi’s Lodhi Complex and then we moved to DLF Phase I. I have seen the city in a barren state. When we lived in Sushant Lok, there were only 11 families living there and my dad was handling the construction project there. Today, it’s quite densely populated. We used to live in C-151, Phase I, Sushant Lok. Then we moved to Palam Vihar and I started studying in Chiranjiv Bharati School. Then the mall culture started. After I moved to Mumbai, I would come back every three months and see a new building. At one point, for a brief period, it was the fastest developing city in Asia.”
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Gurgaon and its people have evolved
Ravi adds, “I have seen Gurgaon evolve in front of me. Even the people have evolved. They have transformed the city into something that is truly international and world class. It makes me proud. I think I live in two of the best cities – Mumbai and Gurgaon. And I love these two places.” Ravi also appreciates the fact that Gurgaonwallahs have started taking initiatives like the Car Free Day and Raahgiri. “A city taking initiative means that the residents are taking the initiative. The fact that they are working to make the city better, speaks volumes about the people living here. I have seen Gurgaon and its people when I was in school too – I can see a quantum shift and a change in perspective. People are very concerned about how the city looks and whether it’s environment-friendly.”
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Not attached to Gurgaon: Sargun
Gurgaon might be Sargun’s sasural,but she says that she hasn’t spent enough time here to develop a fondness for it. She says, “I never got the time to be in Gurgaon. I have come here just four-five times after our marriage, so I am not attached to the city like Ravi is. I don’t have any stories about Gurgaon. I have been in Delhi for five years and I love Delhi. I love Mumbai more and I love Chandigarh even more! I adjust to any place I go to.”
‘A long-distance marriage between us’
Both Ravi and Sargun say that they don’t get enough time with each other. Ravi is busy juggling Jamai Raja, India’s Best Dramebaaz and his film, while Sargun is shooting for Punjabi films. “It is literally a long-distance marriage between us,” says Ravi. Sargun says, “We go to each other’s sets and find time. We usually don’t get a lot of time with each other. We are either too tired or caught up with something else.”
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Won’t be game for shows that are completely set in Delhi
Both Ravi and Sargun have been part of 12/24 Karol Bagh, which was shot completely in Delhi. That’s where the couple first met. With there being talks about Delhi being developed as a hub for film and TV shoots, would they want to move back? Sargun says, “You can’t have a home away from home. People shifted base to Mumbai because the industry is there. Now you tell them, ‘Ok, today we don’t feel like shooting in Mumbai, let’s go to Delhi’. You don’t know how long a show will go on. Maybe a show will run for seven years. It’s not easy to stay away from your family (in Mumbai) for that long. I don’t think it will be that easy for me now to do a show that is completely set in Delhi. I remember being approached for a show that was to be shot completely in Delhi, but I told them, ‘That means I am going to be away from home for the entire time because you are never going to give me an off. I am going to be away from what I have created in Mumbai, where you told me the industry was going to be’. I don’t think it’s fair. It’s still okay for films, but TV is a 30-days-a-month job.”
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Ravi adds, “I agree. I can do a film away from home, but a TV show is not possible. I can’t commit to a TV show that is being shot in Hyderabad or Delhi or somewhere else. Like she said, we are rooted in Mumbai right now. When I did Karol Bagh, I wasn’t married. It didn’t really matter where I was staying. I have more responsibilities now.”
You can’t reap the benefits of being an actor if you are shooting away from Mumbai
Sargun adds, “When we were doing Karol Bagh, we were completely detached from Mumbai. We didn’t attend any award shows or events. We didn’t perform anywhere because we were away. You can also forget about doing reality shows, because they are shot mostly in Mumbai. The industry is not about doing one show only. You’re not able to reap the benefits of being an actor.”
Ravi adds, “It took us more than a decade-and-a-half to create what we have created in Mumbai. We can’t walk away from it.”
WATCH: ‘Jamai Raja’ Ravi Dubgifted by his wife Sargun!