Date:30/06/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/yw/2009/06/30/stories/2009063050120400.htm
Back Young World



Awesome anchor and a striking showman

S.M. AAMIR

His day is packed with studies, tuition and of course, shooting.



Shining star: Dhairya

It is not easy to be a child star. Take for instance Dhairya Sonecha, 10-year-old child artiste who is anchoring Zee TVs show “L’il Champs” these days.

A Std. VI student of Veer Bhagat Singh Vidhyalaya in Mumbai, Dhairya’s day is packed with books, studies, tuitions, shooting and only a bit of play.

His hectic schedule can put an adult to shame. An early riser he goes to school at 7.00 a.m. and comes back only after 1.00 p.m.

A quick lunch is followed by a couple of hours of shooting or recording of programmes. Then comes tuition in the evening, yet Dhairya claims, it is an ordinary life with no uncommon demands," Children at my school behave normally with me, but people on the streets and other public places do recognise me and the kids ask for autographs.”

Pampered

He reveals, “On the sets I always get a warm welcome and because of my age a lot of attention is paid and care taken. Everyone is very co-operative.” Asked about the “L’il Champs” shooting he says, “We are given nearly an hour to learn the script before the show.”

Dhairya who was also seen in the TV show “Chota Packet Bada Dhamal” appears confident and mature. In the show he and Afshan Mosani who is the co-anchor of the show are seen pulling each others leg. Dhairya tells, “To fight on stage is the demand of the script and the theme of the show is “Boys vs. Girls”, otherwise we are very good friends.”

Dhairya who has been acting for the last seven years has earlier acted in films such as “Babul”, “Partner” and “Tahaan” has also done more than 60 commercials. Despite being a successful actor he does not want to choose acting as his career.

He wants to be an automobile engineer and his dream is to invent his own car. “Acting was my small dream but my big dream is to invent a car of my own,” says the superstar child. Not impossible, considering Dhairya is also a good student having secured 93 per cent marks in Std. V.

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