Nitin Sahrawat

Nitin started his modelling career in 2002 with a print campaign for Standard Chartered and in the following years he went on to become one of the most visible faces on Indian television,[3] with TV commercials for brands including Tide,[4] Pillsbury Company, Maruti 800,[5] Hyundai Santro,[6] LG Electronics, Hero MotoCorp, Ariel, Tropicana Products and Sunsilk. As a result of Indian economy opening up in 1990s (1990s in India) international brands started devising strategies of entering the lucrative Indian market. Nitin Sahrawat was the face of many such launches in India, including his commercial for Pedigree Petfoods,[7][8] Nokia N72 and Tetley.

In 2004 Samsung rolled out a big budget campaign to commemorate Indian cricket team's tour of Pakistan, which was one of the biggest sporting event of the Indian subcontinent as the two nations had resumed sporting ties after a long gap.[9][10] Sahrawat acted in this campaign which was named "Jeet Lo Dil" (Win Hearts).[11] As a result of this campaign he became popular in Pakistan too, and in spite of Pakistan Government's official ban on using Indian actors for Pakistani ad campaigns, he later went on to act in numerous Pakistani TV commercials.[12][13][14][15][16]

His TV commercial for Indian Oil Corporation won the IDPA (Indian Documentary Producers' Association) and RAPA (Radio & TV Advertising Practitioners Association of India) Awards in 2005.[17][18][19] In 2010 Cannes Lions winner director duo Nic Osborne and Sune Maroni directed a Fiat Punto TV commercial starring Nitin Sahrawat which went on to win numerous awards including Creative ABBY 2011 and Adfest 2011.[20][21][22][23] Other acclaimed directors who have often worked with Sahrawat include Pradeep Sarkar, Shantanu Bagchi, Oni Sen, Arjun Mukherjee, Manav Menon, Aniket Shirke, Prahlad Kakkar, Ram Madhvani, Abhinay Deo, V. K. Prakash, E. Nivas, Pankaj Parashar and Abhijit Chaudhuri (Dadu).

In 2010, Sahrawat acted in Rann, which was directed by Ram Gopal Varma and co starred Amitabh Bachchan. After his two-movie contract with Sarvodaya Visuals got delayed, Sahrawat accepted Balaji Telefilms's offer for season two of their popular show Kitani Mohabbat Hai. He enacted the character of Rajveer Singh Ahluwalia, a stoic police officer which was quite different from the amiable characters that he had usually portrayed in his TV commercials.[24] Kitani Mohabbat Hai Season 2 ended in May 2011 with Rajveer getting shot while trying to save Arohi.[25]

In the first half of 2013 Nitin Sahrawat was seen in two other Balaji Telefilms shows, namely Savdhaan India and Parichay. In Parichay he played the role of a fictitious Bollywood superstar called Aman Kumar which was inspired by real life Bollywood superstar Salman Khan.[26] In the show Aman Kumar hires Kunal (played by Samir Soni ) to defend him in a DUI & Hit and run case which was based on Salman Khan's 2002 Bandra incident.[27]

In the latter half of 2013 Sahrawat signed up for the award-winning show Bade Achhe Lagte Hain as the antagonist against the character of Ram Kapoor (played by Ram Kapoor).[28] In February 2014 Sahrawat started shooting for Star Plus's new show Ishq Kills which is directed by Vikram Bhatt.[29] In the latter half of the year Sahrawat started shooting for Saurabh Tewari's new show called Do Deewane Ek Shehar Me,[30] but this show was scrapped by the channel before its telecast.[31]

In 2015 Sahrawat was signed up for two shows of 4 Lions Films, namely Qubool Hai and Adhuri Kahaani Hamari (TV series). In Qubool Hai he portrayed the part of Bollywood superstar Anand Kumar while in Adhuri Kahaani Hamari (TV series) he was seen as Chote Raja Lakshman Dev and was paired opposite Shubhangi Atre Poorey.[32][33][34] In September Sahrawat was seen in a special episode of Code Red, in which he played the character of a psychopathic killer. This episode was based on truck driver M. Jaishankar and his killing spree in southern India.[35]

Atal Indian is a social movement, focused on providing practical solutions to the challenges faced by the rapidly urbanizing India. It is dedicated to the 10th Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee according to its mission statement. Atal Indian's primary activities include ecocentric projects like Atal Vatika, aimed at betterment of the quality of life of the Indian citizens, in sync with the available natural resources around them.[51]

It strives for the creation of 'Green' smart cities, and modifying the existing Indian population centers, with nature being the core and the unifying essence. A sustainable city which is in sync with its natural resources, provides an ideal foundation for comprehensive growth of its denizens.[52]

Atal Indian was conceived by Nitin Sahrawat in 2016.[53] In 2016, Sahrawat started a pilot project to create an urban forest, and Avenue (landscape) tree plantation in Dehradun, when he personally dug out fifty pits, and planted Gulmohar and Saraca asoca trees, protecting them with tree guards which had been granted by the city council. In two years time, this pilot project proved to be successful enough for Sahrawat to decide on replicating this project in other Indian cities. He has collaborated with the administration of the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and has pledged his support for the Rispana Rejuvenation project of the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.[54]

Atal Urban Rejuvenation Project aims at inculcating landscape architecture at the local resident welfare association level in the cities and villages of India, through the participation of the local population. It aims at better coordination between the RWAs and the administrative bodies, for providing a uniform look to the entire city, brought about by colour coordinated Avenue tree plantation drives, covering the entire city.

An integral part of this project is the waterfront development of the Urban riverside, and creation of greenways. Nature can be used to provide important services for communities by protecting them against flooding or excessive heat, or helping to improve air, soil and water quality. More green space around one's house is associated with better mental health.[55] Also, an availability of green space in neighbourhoods helps the senior citizen segment of the population by encouraging increased physical activity, which results in healthier and longer lifespans.[56]