As told to Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 18, 2018)

To start with, I wanted to be a cricketer. I even captained the Haryana Under-19 cricket team but then, ended up studying law for five years in Chandigarh. After that I landed my first job under senior lawyer Amarjit Singh Chandhok at the Delhi High Court and worked with him for around three months. My duties involved helping senior lawyers research cases, finding precedent judgements which could help them nail a case and take care of their files. But I quickly realised that I wasn’t cut out for the profession.

An eye-opener was Chandhok sir’s commitment and 24x7 dedication to the profession. I remember one day I had gone to his residence at around 2 am to deliver a file. Three hours later, another colleague went with another file. And as usual we all met at work again at 8 am. I was really impressed with his passion and the hours he was working. But it only made me realise that I didn’t have that kind of passion or perseverance as far as law goes. I wanted to do something creative and I also wanted some ‘me time’ so I could have fun and travel a bit too. So, I quit and became a copywriter.

I used to write scripts to promote different brands and compose jingles for them too. This job put me on the path of becoming a radio jockey. Thank God, both my father and mother are equally creative in their own ways or they might not have agreed to me quitting law to become an RJ. Dad is a writer with many books on astrology and vastu shastra to his name while my mother is a really creative home-maker. Both have always been very supportive, and dad always told me to do what made me happy and not chase after money. In my eight years on radio, I worked with three radio stations, but not once did I haggle with the Human Resources team for money.

I really enjoyed my stint as an RJ. Like all others, this one too was a full-time job. We worked 12 hours a day, but it was a lot of fun interviewing various celebs. My favourite was Vidya Balan who was candid and transparent. Another memorable interaction was with Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur who had come to my radio station to promote their film, Aashiqui 2. Since they played singers, we jammed together. At that point I had no way of knowing that one day I would be doing a horror comedy with Shraddha, Stree.

Our office had a fancy gym and whenever I would feel low, I would quickly go and work out for an hour. Sometimes my boss would jokingly crib, and I would remind them that the time I spend in the gym is far less than the number of smoke breaks they all take together. My days on radio were really special and I owe a lot to my stint there and those I worked with.

While I was working as an RJ, I started anchoring events. I’d also host a street food show and a fitness programme on a leading TV channel, along with a dance show for Doordarshan. I was dabbling in theatre as well and an assistant casting director spotted me in a Munshi Premchand play and recommended me for Neeraj Pandey’s Saat Uchakkey, which featured Manoj Bajpayee, Vijay Raaz and Annu Kapoor among other great actors.

People often tell me to credit Dangal as my first film, but I would never lie. Just because my first child didn’t do as well as the second, I can’t abandon it. I am very proud of both Saat Uchakkey and Dangal that gave me a chance to share screen space with Aamir sir (Khan).

Around the time I wanted to shift to Mumbai to pursue my acting aspiration. Ayushmann bhaiya (Khurrana, actor-brother) wasn’t too convinced and told me, “Yeh sheher tumhe khud bulayega.” So, I stayed back in Delhi. But four months after I auditioned for Dangal, I got a call from casting director Mukesh Chhabra and Aamir sir’s office informing me that I had bagged the role of Omkar, Babita and Geeta Phogat’s cousin. I was at my radio studio, about to begin my show for the day, when I got the news. I had tears in my eyes. Bhaiya’s words had come true.

When I came to Mumbai to start my prep for the 2016 biographical sports-drama, I didn’t even have to pay for my flight tickets.

Destiny flew me down to the Maximum City.


Clockwise from above: Aparshakti with Arjun Kapoor; a still from Dangal; the actor with brother Ayushmann Khurrana