”Almost five years ago, I left home saying I’m taking bank exam coaching. But in reality, I came to Hyderabad to become an actor. I still remember walking around Jubilee Hills and wondering if I can ever survive this busy city life. Audition after audition, nothing worked out. Sometimes, they wouldn’t even watch me perform. It was a no before that! I simultaneously started to do short films. Sandeep from Chai Bisket saw one such video and got in touch with me. The platform was just launched then, and I happily joined. Although we were doing comedy videos initially, I was quite happy because it was fetching me some money and I was still acting. Soon after, my other friends in Chai Bisket and I were being invited to college fests and I realised that this is a thing among the youth. I was still keen on cinema, but I wasn’t complaining about what I had and what I could do.
During my stint here, I acted in Athidi (short film) and that’s when Shiva (Majili director) called me. He was impressed with my work and said he’d written a few scenes keeping me in mind. When the opportunity came, I grabbed it without a second thought. But in between all this, there was a period when I had a panic attack. Before I was told what I was suffering from, I hadn’t even heard of these words – anxiety and panic attack. I was shocked. For the longest time, I kept thinking it must be something else, but the doctors were clear that it was stress and anxiety. For a boy who fought college issues with a gang of his own back in Vijayawada, it was surprising to know that I wasn’t strong enough. But, stress isn’t about your physical strength. I needed a break. I wanted my wife (back then, girlfriend) beside me. It was an impromptu decision to get married and I stayed in Vijayawada for 3 months. It was certainly the most difficult phase of my life. Even today, I keep feeling low, but I tell myself that I need to be strong and survive this. There’s a lot coming my way – Majili is one of them. When the film released, I watched it with my parents, wife and friends in my hometown. It was the same theatre in the neighbourhood but it had huge cutouts of me and my friends welcomed me with whistles like I was a superstar. My parents teared up when I came on the screen. Priceless moment! I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
#Acting #ChaiBisket #Actor #ShortFilms #Struggle #Cinema #Movies #Films #Athidi #Nani #Majili #Vijayawada #Friends #Success #Hyderabad #HumansOfHyderabad
