Imlie actor Sai Ketan Rao on going paragliding after show's end: I wondered what if the parachute doesn’t open?

Earlier this month, Sai Ketan Rao’s show Imlie went off-air. Since then, the actor has been using his time to tick items off his bucket list. “I always wanted to embark on an adventure, but you don’t get the chance and time because of your work and the city life doesn’t give you those opportunities close by. So, recently, I went to Kamshet to try on some adventure sports,” he shares.

Kamshet is 110 kms away from Mumbai and Rao insists that it was an “impromptu decision” to go there. “I didn’t think twice about it. I went Kayaking in deep waters while it was raining. Although it was very risky, it felt amazing and surreal. I could feel the wind on my face and the speed of the waves. It was a next level experience. It was double the danger and you get such an adrenaline rush out of it,” he shares, adding that he went trekking as well and calls the experience “excruciating yet amazing.”

The 29-year-old attempted paragliding as well and talking about his experience of "flying”, he shares, “I felt very conscious while jumping off the cliff as your body doesn’t want to do it. I was 1500 ft above the ground, and you just have to convince yourself that you are going to get to fly. The first 10 seconds are very heavy mentally. It was my first time and I felt very nervous. I wondered what if the parachute doesn’t open?” The actor adds, “I have plans to go to more places but it’s all going to be very spontaneous.”

Ask Rao about saying goodbye to Imlie and he says it was double the heartbreak as he played two characters in the show— Agastya and Suriya. “Agastya was more connected to myself, he had his own sway and attitude. So, he was much closer to me. And when the makers killed off Agastya, I think the audience couldn’t digest it and I think maybe it reflected in the TRPs as well,” he says, adding that he made peace with it as it’s part and parcel of an actor’s journey. “On the last day of shoot, I revisited all the places where I did most of my scenes. I played the piano that was shown in my room on the show. I had bonded with that piano a lot through my time on Imlie,” he ends.