100 Hours 100 Stars: Sharad Kelkar explains how lockdown affected ‘workaholic’ like him, Elli AvrRam is enjoying time at home

Sharad Kelkar and Elli AvrRam opened up about the effects of the lockdown on their lives and more in a candid chat as a part of 100 Hours 100 Stars, an initiative by Fever Network, home to radio stations Fever FM, Radio Nasha and Radio One.

Elli said that she was ‘really enjoying’ the quarantine as she has been a homebody since childhood. “Quarantine is going really good. In fact, I am really enjoying it because I have always been a ‘ghar wali ladki (homely girl)’ since childhood. Bahar jaane ka zyada mann nahi kar raha hai mera aur mujhe lagta hai yeh isliye kyunki bachpan mein jab mann tha, tab allowed nahi tha. I have gotten used to finding fun things to do at home and enjoying my own company. I love to dance, so I am dancing a lot these days,” she said.

The Swedish-Greek actor, who spoke in fluent Hindi during the chat, revealed how long it took her to pick up the language. “Jab main Bigg Boss mein thi, tab mera yeh shuru hua. Aur uske baad shayad aur ek saal laga mujhe (When I was in Bigg Boss, that is when I started learning Hindi. I think it took me another year after that),” she said.

Sharad revealed that he was shooting for a big-budget film scheduled to release on Independence Day, when the lockdown was announced. He said that it was ‘unfortunate’, as there were just two days of shooting left, but the decision to have a nationwide lockdown was in the best interests of everyone.

The actor, who was last seen in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, said that the news of the lockdown was a jolt to him. “Mere jaise aadmi ke liye, jo Sunday ko bhi bahar jaata hai, apne kaam ko preference deta hai, ek dhakka tha jisko absorb karne mein time lag gaya (It was a blow to a person like me, who is a workaholic and likes to work on Sundays as well. It took me some time to absorb the news),” he said.

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Sharad said that he realised the lockdown was a necessity to control the spread of the coronavirus, and he now sees it as a ‘blessing in disguise’, as he is getting time to do things which he could not in the last decade. He said that he was baking, cooking, playing with daughter Kesha and working out during this time.

100 Hours 100 Stars is a non-stop digital fest featuring performances and interviews of 100 celebrities. The initiative, which lauds frontline workers who are selflessly working during the pandemic, is also raising money for the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-Cares) fund.

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