TALENT TALE : Luck and hard work made Harmanveer Singh win Mr. Punjab

'Mr Punjab', Harmanveer Singh Sohal

Full support from his family and a good luck made Jalandhar lad Harmanveer Singh win the tag of ‘Mr. Punjab’ contest that has been concluded recently

He was just having a nice physique and good looks. He never thought of entering into modeling. He was a gym freak. His father always wanted him to be a Kabaddi player. But one day, his gym coach suggested him to try for fitness modeling. He did. Later, he got acquainted with Mr. Punjab contest. On friends and family advice, he gave the auditions, got a ticket and came out with the tag of ‘Mr. Punjab’. Seems lucky enough but this is the true winning saga of city’s lad Harmanveer Singh Sohal.

He was the youngest contestant in the show and he claims that every participant treated him like a younger brother, without any spirit of competition. Sharing his experience of the competition he says, “Undoubtedly the experience has been amazing and unexpected. Initially I never thought of reaching even third episode, but with time and good performances, I won the title. I was the youngest contestant and always thought that all others are experienced in theater, modeling, acting etc and I am a fresher. But the best part was that all remained like brothers and guides.”

On asking him about his memorable moment in the entire journey he recalls, “I was put into danger zone in the third episode itself. My morale was completely low. And the next day, it was acting round. I then called my brother-in-law. He boosted my morale after talking over phone for one hour. Then, I was lucky enough that other contestants came to me and taught me various skills in acting. And the next day, due to their guidance, I performed well and cleared the theater round.”

On the other hand, he too faced a couple of tough moments. Out of all, he shares one, “The toughest round for me was semi-final in which we have to push all other contestants from the ring and the last remaining would be declared the winner. It seems to be easy but the bad part was, one of my fingers was injured badly and was dressed. The whole hand was not moving. But then, I took a deep breath, fought, pushed others out and bagged ‘best performer’ tag.”

Though he is not formally trained and an amateur model yet he believes that his luck, hard work and parents support made him fetch the title.

After winning the tag and having an experience, he ranks height, looks, physique and communication skills in descending order. For future, he is planning to take formal training in acting and is willing to act in Punjabi movies. His dream is to share screen with superstar Salman Khan in one of his movies in future.

Note: The interview was originally published in The Times of India supplement, Jalandhar Times.