Milan Trivedi was born in Surendranagar, Gujarat on August 9. His parents were both working professionals. Father was the HOD, Chemistry at MP Shah Institute. He was based in Bhavnagar, Surendranagar and later on at Baudin college, Junagadh for three years. His mother was an active social worker. He has a brother working with PGVCL.
Milan got married in the year 2000 and fortunately he possessed his own flat by then. His education was mostly out of Surendranagar and Rajkot. He did his B.A. from Surendranagar, M.A (English) from Surendranagar & Bhavnagar, B.eD from Rajkot, BJMC Rajkot, MJMC which he was not able to complete.
Education continues……
In 2005 , Saurashtra University introduced a course in Hospital Management. Since Milan held a fair bit of experience in the medical field he applied and among stiff competition of Doctors he got selected and secured 8th rank in merit. However, he left the course in-between as he found it a bit irrelevant to the actual context.
Bold and forthcoming
Milan always had the inclination for the stage as a child. He performed on stage when he was in 8th grade. It was the silver jubilee of JNV school and the program included a play by the students. Milan got the information late about the play. As a young lad he never gave up. He approached the Principal and requested he be included in the school play. Since the Principal wanted to give him a chance, he asked him to meet with Mr. Anand Pandya, the Mentor who was in charge of selections, rehearsals etc. Mr. Pandya was apprehensive as giving him lines and slotting him in in the middle of the routine was difficult and also, he was not aware of Milan’s credentials on stage. A bold and straightforward Milan did not let go and pursued his intention to be part of the play. Lucky for him a team member’s absenteeism worked and he was asked to join practice and fill in the place. Milan jumped to the opportunity and impressed the mentor and other team member and made an entry into the play, donning the role of Bahadur Shah Jafar. In his very first act he did feel the challenges of live performance with props and timings etc. After this he managed to bag a lead role for another play in a school program. Perseverance and a headstrong attitude to get what he wants was a trait he was born with.
Starting from the beginning
He had to work backstage, assist teams for getting the costumes from the stores, ironing costumes and working as prompter for the team and other miscellaneous backstage work. Its all a learning process if viewed positively. A regional level competition organized by Lio Club saw his team in the first and second position. A huge morale booster for him personally and his team members.
Traits that work and some that don’t
In 1985 INT and Gujarat Samachar organised the inter collage competition. Milan bagged the role of a Psychic. A challenging role that included a five-minute breathless act. Milan chose bold roles, one being Homosexuality. In that competition, though his team did not get selected but he got awarded “Best Character” for his role. He played his very first play on King Heyati and co-related him with one professor. He also did mono acting on Osho Rajnish. Both controversial and bold. Due to his choice of daring subjects’ selections he got a stay and was banned twice in his journey.
Entrepreneurship
In 1989 with his two friends he started “Visual Arts”, an institute for theaters. Since 1989 artist from “visual arts” have been participating in many theaters, play and competitions. Milan and team introduced use of “Gazals” in one-acts. A new concept that went well with the audience. His play got first in the university. Subsequently he performed plays at Mumbai, representing the west zone of India in this regional competition. His team at Visual Arts also took part in the national level competitions.
After an overseas stint he came back to India and managed to get a Govt. Job as an English teacher in “Ramesh Bhai Chhaya”. However, within a short time of three months he quit as he found the job unsuitable for him. Leaving a Govt. job did upset him a bit and now he had to think about the future. He went to London and earnestly began working on his career planning and his strengths that he could build and will take him forward. He met a friend who offered to join his pharmaceutical business. He came back to India and worked in Rajkot for ten years with this friend. A core medical field was what the business was about. He had good exposure to the medical field and the surgery space. In 2005 he shut down the business. This was the time he was in dire straits with not much in hand, in terms of finances or savings.
Change of track – visual media
In 2007 he got the opportunity to work for Doordarshan, Rajkot, where the earnings were a mere Rs. 800 per episode for the character role. A window of 3-4 episodes a month was what he got to do. In 2007 he was working as an assistant with Laxmi studio at Halol, he got to know about a need for script writer at ETV Gujarati for a comedy show. His financial conditions were bad, hence he applied though he had never done such a job before. His intention was to use a dummy writer and he would make his cut in between. Some work was better than no work, as far as he was concerned, keeping his financial situation in light.
Having got an appointment to meet the Director at Ahmedabad he left from Rajkot. It was 1.30 appointment and he got late and the Director refused to see him. Dejected he left the script for him to read and returned to Rajkot. Lucky for him he got a call from the Director Prashant Thakor . He was asked to start writing scripts for him for a new show. A small change suggested by Milan to the Director was taken positively. Milan suggested he have two anchors instead of one and the second anchor (himself) could have a comical conversation in between to bring in humor into the show. Milan got a dummy writer to write the eight scripts and sadly all of them were rejected. Milan took to the pen and wrote the scripts himself and it was accepted by the Director. The show was named “Laughter Express” and Milan got the opportunity to enact in different attires for the show and he holds the record of doing more than 1200 in a regional news channel.
Radio exposure – a new path
In 2007-08 Milan applied to Radio Mirchi as an RJ but did not make it. He later got offer from Big FM but declined to do the prime-time morning show because of his contract with ETV for Laughter Express despite being offered a higher pay cheque. Though it was a more lucrative offer he decided to stick with ETV.
He was offered the show “Waah Bhai Waah” from the same producer, which he rejected and in place send his co-anchor Deepak from Laughter Express. However, he joined the show ( Waah Bhai Waah) and till today is known as the most stable anchor who did 485 shows in the comic genre . A big achievement!
Professional journey never stops only climbs
Milan worked with ETV up to 2010 then he joined Colors Gujarati as a comedian. Subsequently he joined VTV, parallelly he worked for TV9 in guest episodes. He worked in national television’s famous serials “Savdhan India”. Milan has a Gujarati movie to his credit. He is writing for Mumbai Express and other publication for the last few years besides writing scripts for movies, plays, stand-ups and even election campaigns.
Chances in life, never let go!
Milan, is an individual who would try his had and anything new without hesitation. He and his partner are working on manufacture of building materials.
Character and traits
Even as a child he has been outspoken and he believed that gives a sense of self satisfaction. However, he also believes it puts you in a tight spot often and in general makes things tougher in the journey of life.
A great attribute is Milan is a good listener and a good listener is rare in today’s fast-moving world.
No particular role models, he has learnt on his way up or down and on his own.
Beliefs to stick by
He believes in shows that can be seen across all age groups and should be a comfortable space for both the eldest and the youngest to watch.
Message from personal experience
Milan has a message which he has used in his life viz: be positive and never take life too seriously and planning ahead at times is a futile exercise. Never make others feel they are dependent on you and doing your best at work without playing politics to bring another down is the best way forward.
