Exclusive! My disappearance was not a publicity stunt: Gurucharan Singh

In April this year, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actor Gurucharan Singh shocked everyone when he suddenly went missing. On April 22, he was scheduled to fly from Delhi to Mumbai, but never boarded the flight. Subsequently, a kidnapping case was filed by the Delhi Police after his father, Harjit Singh, lodged a complaint. Nearly a month after going missing, the actor returned home on May 18.
Following his return, Gurucharan told the police that he had been dealing with some personal issues and had embarked on a spiritual journey.Since his return, there has been a lot of curiosity around where he was and what made him disappear from his house for several weeks.
Speaking exclusively with Bombay Times, Gurucharan, who is currently in Mumbai for some personal work, said, “Since the pandemic, there have been many things that affected me. I left Mumbai and went back to Delhi in 2020 as my father was undergoing surgery. After that, I tried starting many businesses on my own, but none of them worked out - either the work wasn’t done properly or the people I collaborated with disappeared. We also have a property dispute going on for years and a lot of money was spent on that, too. So, because of all this, my finances got badly affected and I was very disturbed.”

Gurucharan added, “I have always been spiritual because of my parents and at this point in life when I was feeling low, I turned towards God. I went on a spiritual journey and had no plans of coming back. But God gave me a sign and that made me return home. Many people think I planned my disappearance for publicity, but that’s not true. If I wanted publicity, I could have given interviews to talk about the pending dues for my work in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. I could have used social media to do that, but I didn’t. Even after coming back home, I didn’t give any interviews, but now I am speaking up because I want to clarify certain things that people are saying about me.”

Now that the actor is back, he has been looking for interesting work. “I am asking people from the industry to support me. I am back and want to do a lot of work. I also want to pay off all the loans and debts that I have, one by one. That can happen through my work, and I am ready to work hard. I have realised that I can continue my spiritual journey even while fulfilling my other responsibilities in life,” shared the 51-year-old actor, who became popular as Roshan Singh Sodhi in Taarak Mehta. He quit the show in 2013; he rejoined in 2014 and quit again in 2020.

While the actor wants to focus on his career, he also wants to settle down. When we asked him if wishes to get married soon, he replied, “I do plan to get married soon and settle down in life. Once that happens, I would like to shift my parents from Delhi to Mumbai so that I can take care of them.”