I cannot hold back myself when I see someone in pain: Donal Bisht

In an interview with QNA, Donal talks about his upcoming projects, the interesting initiatives he took in the lockdown like ‘Hit me challenge, T-shirt challenge’.

From completing ‘T-Shirts & Hit Me Challenges’ to posting workout videos, how did you manage to stay connected with your fans amid Coronavirus-induced lockdown?

Donal Bisht: Amid the lockdown, entertaining myself and the fans was actually how I thought of avoiding stagnancy in my life. Because we are not working and not doing anything, so I feel it is imperative for us to do something productive yet relevant. We initiated the Hit Me Challenge and T-Shirt Challenge, so the audiences also feels refreshing to see the whole industry coming together and doing something collectively to fight corona. For example, Hit Me challenge was a group challenge where we showcased that if you step out of your houses, we will hit you. Thereby, we emphasised on the message of ‘Don’t step out unless necessary’ whereas T-Shirt challenge was a leisure activity.

Your have also kickstarted an initiative – ‘Open Up To Donal’ – on Instagram to mark the ‘Mental Health Awareness Month’. Can you tell us a bit about this?

Donal Bisht: I saw there are a lot of friends of mine who are frustrated and some even went into depression during this pandemic. So, they used to call me up and they used to feel relaxed and heard. I try my best to calm them down and provide them with solutions. From there, the thought came. I thought why not help my fans too. And social media is the only medium through which we are connected so last month in May, as it is the mental awareness month, I started this initiative. So for a week, I used to answer questions from my fans and I did answer as much as I could because I couldn’t hold back myself from doing so.
I have seen people who aren’t willing to help the other person who is in agony. And I’m clearly not that kind of a person, I cannot hold back myself if I see someone in pain.

Also, tell us in brief about your upcoming ‘The Socho Project’.

Donal Bisht: I cannot open up much about it. But yes, it is a web show that I’m doing. Though, I’m not allowed to reveal anything about it but yes it has a great storyline and that’s the main reason why I am doing it.

On the occasion of Mother’s Day, you took to Instagram and shared a poem – “Maa Ka Pyar” – underlining your interest in poetry as well. Is it true?

Oh yes! I write whenever I feel like writing something and whatever I feel, I write it down. So a day before mother’s day, I wrote down a poem and then I thought of reciting it too. And I was very happy because my mother loved the poem and also people out there could feel the lines.

The story behind it is, I cried vociferously while writing it down. Because the emotions came out straight from the heart.

What are you other interests besides acting and poetry?

Donal Bisht: I do like painting, but I cannot do any creative thing in rush. I need peace of mind for it. Be it painting, acting or poetry. And I learned it from my friend who is a very good artist. His name is Vikas Malani and I had told him that I want to learn painting. So, I learned shading and sketching and now that I am in Delhi, I’ll definitely take out some time for painting and stuff.

After ‘Roop’ and ‘Dil Toh Happy Hai Ji’ and ‘Ek Deewana Tha’ , what’s next on the cards?

Donal Bisht: Right now I’m solely and wholely focused on the web show that I have coming up and I’m also super excited for it!