Dharesh is from Rajkot, born on 27th September 1990 to Maheshbhai D Shukla and Meenaben M Shukla. Father was a Medical representative and mother is a homemaker. Dharesh completed his education in Rajkot but changed couple of schools till Higher secondary. Primary from Sarvoday School, Secondary from Sandipani School and Higher Secondary from Virani School. He completed his B.Sc.– IT from the H.N.Shukla college Rajkot. He currently works at GEB (UGVCL) a government establishment.
Partner on every stage
Dharesh is married to Riddhi who is lecturer in the Govt. Girls Polytechnic Ahmedabad.
The beginning
Primary school was where he begun initially with participation in school plays and one special play he vividly remembers is a “Kaun Banega Crorepati” parody.
In 2000, in school he started learning from his theatre guruji Bharat Yagnik besides attending the Gujarat Rajya Sangit Academy workshop in Jamnagar. This was a certified course taking him on to a professional track.
Professional flight
His professional flight started in 2007 with the play “Janta Raja” based on the life of Shivaji. Dharesh also participated in the Youth festivals and also in the vibrant Gujarat plays on occasions like Navaratri, Independence Day and Republic day.
Dharesh got the opportunity to perform the lead role in “Rang Che Rajkot” on Republic Day this year (2020). This was organized by the Govt of Gujarat. Dharesh has over 45 light and sound show to his credit since 2010. He took to the pen and started writing plays. He penned two plays, one was a radio play which was broadcasted on Akashwani on Health and Hygiene and was enacted by children of a primary school in Gujarat. The second one was especially written for Doordarshan.
Locations change – passion stays
A movement of his job took him to Vapi where he started an independent group named Actors Factory. Actors Factory focused on creating actors not stars. He individually produced seven plays where he was the investor, producer and director. Lucky for him this was ranked the 1st in the district level. He performance in the play “ Patthar Thar Thar Dhruje” also won him an award.
In 2018 his job took him to Ahmedabad . Having set up a theatre group in Vapi earlier he started one in Ahmedabad called Phoenix Group. This group did a play called “Kalpana Mrutyu” based on “Jail Office Ni Bari” which was based on Zaverchand Meghani’s experience in the jail. It was conceptualized and co-directed by Dharesh . Besides this, Phoenix Group has two shows and a web series coming up in the future.
Back home in Rajkot he is the member of “Kala Darpan” a group created by the students of Bharat Yagnik since 2007. Dharesh is known for his light and sound shows at the Love Temple, Rajkot. From 2007 to 2020 he has the credit of doing 14 such shows and handling multiple aspects of the show like – designing, lighting, backstage and the lead.
Dharesh has lots of support from his workplace DGVCL. He has received the first prize of best actor award for 3 consecutive years in the Valsad circle for state level drama competition, including a first prize.
In year 2008, when he was still in college, he did a play of Satish Desai name “AntarMan Ni Arpar”, which won prizes at the zonal level and at the youth festival.
Multitasking comes from observing and learning
Since Dharesh most times handles every aspect of the event he believes he follows his role models. He credits his ability to play tough roles to Bharat Yagnik who taught him and Viral Rachchh who helped with advice on acting gradations. He understood the nuances of back stage production from Aasif Ajmeri . He considers all the above his mentors and role models.
Capturing audience attention
As a policy he spends 5% of his income for his hobby and interests. He has traveled extensively for the rehearsals and plays along with his regular job in DGVCL/UGVCL. Financially it was challenging, especially when audience usually glide towards comedy and vulgar plays as compared to the literary content he portrays. Getting financiers, sponsors and producers becomes difficult when you have niche content to offer. People have to understand that actors too are up there on stage for earning a living and payments are important. Dharesh feels that entertainment industry is a big influence and if used positively it can change the thought process of people.
On the charts in the future
He has two plays and one web series in the list for near future, and planning to start the shoot for the same in December. Dharesh never was inclined towards the big screen (movies). The live audience and live feedback inspire and satisfies him. Voice overs for advt. campaigns too he indulges once in a while
Theater – a basic classroom
Theater is a stage where passion for acting plays a big role though the monetary part is not very attractive. The money is in TV and cinema. However, its best to do theatre and then move on to the other mediums since theatre gives you a base and works as a springboard viz a viz acting basics.
Hard work always payback
Hard work is apparent, not just in this industry but every profession. Hard work always pays back and if the focus is not deviated then success just has to find its way to your doorstep.
