A look into the lesser-known struggling days of critically-acclaimed actor, Vicky Kaushal, who is among Bollywood's highest-paid actors at the moment.
Vicky Kaushal was born on May 16, 1988, in a suburban chawl to his parents, Sham Kaushal and Veena Kaushal. At the age of 27, Vicky made his acting debut in Bollywood with the film, Masaan. The film was directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and was among the best films of the year 2015. Vicky portrayed the character, ‘Deepak Kumar’ and won everyone’s hearts with his natural acting. The youngster won the Best Debut Actor Award at the International Indian Film Academy Awards for his performance in Masaan.
Since his acting debut in 2015, Vicky Kaushal has given a series of noteworthy performances in films like Sanju, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Raman Raghav 2.0, Sardar Udham, Sam Bahadur, Dunki, Raazi, Manmarziyaan, and many more. According to a report in News18, Vicky hiked his fee from Rs. 10 crores for a single film to Rs. 20 crores per film, after the success of Sam Bahadur. The 36-year-old actor is one of the highest-paid celebrities in India.
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Talking about his personal life, Vicky Kaushal got married to the love of his life, Katrina Kaif on December 9, 2021, at Rajasthan’s iconic Six Senses Fort Barwara. The couple tied the marital knot after two years of relationship, which they kept hidden from everyone. Once, in an old interview with No Filter Neha, Katrina revealed that for the first two years of their dating period, she used to call Vicky ‘khadoos’. Vicky and Katrina never skip a chance to tease each other and they’re considered as one of the most loved couples in the film industry.
Vicky Kaushal is leading a comfortable life, while he is picking up new projects on the professional front, the actor is having a steady personal life with Katrina Kaif. However, not everyone is aware of Vicky’s struggle story which is an inspiration for so many aspiring actors across the country. For the unversed, when Vicky was pursuing his engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from Mumbai’s Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, he collaborated with Manav Kaul's Aranya Group to Naseeruddin Shah's Motley Productions.
Apart from these two mega theatre groups, Vicky Kaushal had also worked in a series of theatre groups. Despite getting low-key responsibilities like working backstage and making announcements, Vicky fulfilled all his duties to the fullest. As time passed, he struggled a lot to get a break in the film industry. However, finally after years of struggle, it was in 2011, when Manav Kaul founded Vicky and chose him for his feature in the theatrical production, Laal Pencil.
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Once, in an old interview with Film Companion, Vicky Kaushal recalled the time when he got extremely frustrated as things weren’t working in the right direction. The actor revealed that he had tried almost everything but was still struggling to get a break and it was when his mother told him something that motivated him. Sharing what his mother, Veena Kaushal told him, the actor revealed that she advised him ‘don’t try to become God’. He said:
"It’s not your job to know how it’s going to happen. Your job is to have faith that it’s going to happen. The ‘how’ part of it…don’t try to become God. You can plan it but don’t kill yourself over it. She just said it non-chalantly but it gave me a lot of power at that time."
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Further, in the same interview, Vicky Kaushal also opened up about his father, Sham Kaushal. The actor revealed that when he started getting depressed, it was his father, who motivated him. The doting son shared that his father strictly told him not to have any 'Plan B' in his life. The actor also added that he succeeded in his life because he had no ‘safety net’ and his only focus was to get a role in Bollywood. He said:
"One thing that my dad told me was not to come with Plan B. It is different for different people, but it works for me. When I know there is no safety net, I jump a little bit more far. It gives me power."
For the unversed, Vicky Kaushal was paid a sum of Rs. 10,000 for working as an assistant director in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur. After working with Anurag, Vicky learnt a lot of things about filmmaking and acting, which finally paved the way for his acting debut in Masaan. At a time when Vicky was wandering on the streets of Mumbai in search of roles to now charging crores for a film, he has indeed come a log way.
What are your thoughts on Vicky Kaushal’s inspiring struggle story? Let us know.
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