Abhilash Thapliyal is an Indian radio jockey, film actor, and TV host primarily working in the Hindi entertainment industry. He came into the limelight after appearing in the Hindi film Dil Juunglee, wherein he played the role of Prashant.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Abhilash was born on Tuesday, 24 November 1987 (age 35 years; as of 2022) in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. A military brat, Abhilash was brought up by his parents in Delhi, Gwalior, Gurdaspur, and Jaipur. Owing to his father’s transferable job, he did his schooling at various army schools in India. In 2005, he studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 4, Jaipur. According to Abhilash, he did his higher secondary education in the science stream; however, he always wanted to pursue a career as a radio jockey. Soon after completing his higher secondary education, he pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication at Delhi University, New Delhi, from 2005 to 2008. From 2010 to 2012, he did MA in Mass Communication and Journalism at Sikkim Manipal University. [1]LinkedIn – Abhilash Thapliyal In an interview, Abhilash talked about his interest in pursuing a career as a radio jockey and said,
Let me tell you that no one in my family even knew about the media nor had any connection. I belong to a middle class army background family who has seen almost entire India. I just believed that I should do whatever I enjoy and my family always supported me for this. I was studying in the science stream in school, but very soon it came to know that I wanted to become a doctor or an engineer. So why not do something that will be fun. At that time, we came to know about radio, in which we came to know about getting money for speaking and playing songs.
A childhood image of Abhilash Thapliyal with his father
Physical Appearance
[2]Instagram- Abhilash Thapliyal Height: 5′ 8″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Abhilash belongs to a Pahadi-Hindu family in Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand.
Parents & Siblings
Abhilash’s father was a retired Army officer. In 2021, he passed away after suffering from cancer. Abhilash’s mother is a homemaker. He has a sister who lives in Jammu and Kashmir.
Abhilash Thapliyal with his parents
Wife
On 15 April 2015, Abhilash Thapliyal got married to his long-time girlfriend Anubhooti Panda, who works as a manager at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Mumbai. The couple met each other during their graduation days in 2007.
Abhilash Thapliyal with his wife
Relationships/Affairs
Before getting married to Anubhooti Panda, he dated her for a long time.
an old photograph of Abhilash Thapliyal and his wife
Religion/Religious Views
Abhilash follows Hinduism. [3]Instagram – Abhilash Thapliyal
Career
Radio
In 2006, Abhilash, when he was pursuing his graduation in New Delhi, ventured into the career of Radio Jockey and anchored his first radio show Mehfil on All India Radio, New Delhi. In 2007, he worked as a prime-time Radio Jockey and Producer with Radio Tarang FM 104, Hisar, wherein he hosted the show Airtel Shaam ka Signal and Hafta Bandh. Abhilash, during an interview, recalled his experience of working with Radio Tarang in Hisar and shared that he used to receive a salary of Rs 10,000 per month. He said,
Phir kya tha apan bhi lag gaye and joined a radio in Hisar during college itself. I used to travel from Delhi to Hisar. At that time I get ten thousand rupees in cash as salary. The day I used to come from Hisar to Delhi by Haryana Roadways bus with salary, my condition used to be bad. I used to think that no one should know that cash is kept in my bag. Due to uneasiness throughout the way, I used to manage my bag somehow.”
Abhilash Thapliyal shared an old photograph on Facebook recalling his first job as a radio jockey. He captioned the photograph “That’s me 11 years back. A mad college student who would travel 170 kms one way to do what he loves the most, “talk on radio”
In July 2008, he started working with Radio City 91.1, New Delhi; on the radio station, he was part of Radio City’s ‘City Ban Gaya Behtar’ campaign and was the featured radio jockey for the morning show. In 2010, he worked as a morning show host at Fever FM, New Delhi. In January 2016, he started working as Radio Jockey at Red FM, Mumbai. In 2019, he started working with one of India’s largest radio networks, Big FM 92.7, wherein, he hosted a self-titled show ‘Mumbai Ka Sabse Bada Struggler Abhilash (Radio Jockey).’
Television
In 2016, he made his television debut as a host with the MTV show He Thand Rakh. In 2018, he was part of the ensemble cast of the Colors TV show Entertainment Ki Raat.
Abhilash Thapliyal (centre) in a still from the Colors TV show Entertainment Ki Raat
In the same year, he was featured in the Sony Entertainment show Comedy Circus. In 2019, he was featured in the comedy show Apna News Aayega.
Film
In 2018, he made his film debut with the Hindi film Dil Juunglee, wherein he played the role of Prashant. In 2022, he appeared in a cameo role in the film Raksha Bandhan.
Abhilash Thapliyal in a still from the Hindi film Dil Junnglee (2018)
Web Series
In 2017, he made his acting debut with the TVF web series TVF Inmates, wherein he played the role of Suckesh. In 2021, he was featured in the TVF series TVF Aspirants in which he played the role of Shwetketu.
Abhilash Thapliyal as Shwetketu in a still from the web series TVF Aspirants
In 2022, he appeared in the ZEE5 horror film Blurr in which he played the role of Chander. In an interview, he talked about the series and said,
How I got cast for the film is very interesting. I got a different part. I started shooting for the role, and then it got changed. It was challenging for me. I didn’t have time to prepare. Though I had taken some preparations, as it came at the last moment, Ajay sir’s direction helped me a lot.”He also shared an interesting shooting experience. “There was a place where I had to chop chicken pieces. My director was so precise that he asked me to go home and practice. I had to be very careful about the small details,” the actor reveals.Sharing the USP of the film, he concludes, “It’s a thriller, which looks very international. Darr lag sakta hai agar akele dekhe, kisike sath dekhiye. (You might get scared if you see it alone. Watch it with someone.”
In 2022, he appeared in the SonyLIV series Faadu in which he played the role of Roxy.
SonyLIV series Faadu in which he played the role of Roxy (2022)
In 2023, he worked in the TVF series SK Sir Ki Class, wherein he played a self-titled role.
A poster of the TVF mini-series SK Sir Ki Class (2023)
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- In 2013, he won the Radio Jockey Fever 104 FM Award at the New York Fest 2013.
- In 2014, he won the Radio Jockey Fever 104 FM Award at the New York Fest 2014.
- In 2014, he was awarded the Best Radio Jock Across Stations Award at the Fever 104 FM National Conference.
- In 2014, he was awarded the Election Campaign Delhi Award at the Fever 104 FM National Conference.
- In 2015, he won the Most Innovative Show Award at the Goa Fest Abby Awards.
Abhilash Thapliyal (right) at the Goa Fest Abby Awards
Facts/Trivia
- According to Abhilash, initially, he wanted to serve the Indian Army like his father and applied to the National Defence Academy (NDA); however, his application was rejected. Soon after the rejection of the NDA, he decided to pursue a career in Radio. In an interview, Abhilash talked about this and said,
That was my first and last attempt to join the Army. After my form was rejected, I pursued graduation from Delhi University and went on to become a radio jockey and actor. My dream still remains a dream. If I could go back in the past and change one thing, it would be my selection in the Army.”
- In 2015, Abhilash Thapliyal’s various YouTube videos went viral in which he was seen spoofing famous politician Arvind Kejriwal. Following the viral videos, he was known as The Muffler Man; however, later, he stopped uploading videos related to politics. According to Abhilash, he was scared of doing political satire. In an interview, Abhilash talked about this and said,
I feel a little scared doing political satire now. There were many incidents in 2021. People are not open to political humour. They take offence. There was once a time when Shekhar Suman would mimic Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lalu Prasad. It used to be fun to watch them and even the politicians used to take it positively. Today, politicians don’t understand humour that well. So what if I do a satire and someone files a case against me? I don’t want that. I am just controlling myself. Bahut saare characters shuru kiye the, jo ab nahi kar raha hu. But you never know, I might.”
- In an interview, Abhilash Thapliyal talked about how he decided to make a career in films. Abhliyal was performing as a Muffler Man (Arvind Kejriwal) at an event in Delhi, where he met film director Amit Sharma who asked Abhilash to shift to Mumbai and pursue a career as an actor in the entertainment industry. Later, after Abhilash shifted to Mumbai, Amit called him to work with his team. [4]OTTplay
- Although Abhilash is a teetotaler, once he consumed alcohol as an experiment for his role in the web series Faadu (2022). According to Abhilash, he took three shots of tequila. In an interview, Abhilash talked about his experience of consuming alcohol for the first time and said,
I asked my friends what would be the safest thing to try and they said tequila. I took 3 shots and I had no idea what is going on around me. I was zoning out on and off. I had asked my wife not to enter the room. I just want to understand that high. The problem with such characters is that they can be caricatures. And I want my character to be as real as possible. I called some of my friends and asked if I sounded like an alcoholic. My friends pulled my legs all night. There were a few other experiments we did during the shoot which I am not talking about.”
- In an interview, Abhilash talked about his experience of playing a drunkard role in Iyer Tiwari’s web series Faadu (2022). In the acting sets of Faadu, when Abhilash was dressed as drunkard Roxy, he was stopped by the production crew; according to Abhilash, he became unrecognisable to others with his look. [5]Outlook
Abhilash Thapliyal as Roxy in the web series Faadu (2022)
- He follows a non-vegetarian diet. [6]Instagram – Abhilash Thapliyal
