While excited to step into 2025, actor Vedang Raina looks back fondly at 2024, calling it “a crazy year in the best way possible”. He says, “My takeaway from 2024 is that the biggest virtue of an actor is patience. It’s about being patient when your work is not out, to keep waiting when there is no work, and to live through those times the way you live through the moments on the set.”

This year, Raina made his theatrical debut with the Alia Bhatt-starrer Jigra, and he admits that seeing himself on the big screen was a surreal feeling. “It was so different. It was special to be part of a film with Alia. With Vasan (Bala) sir directing and (filmmaker) Karan Johar backing the film, it was a big deal. I never dreamt of that happening in my second film,” he says.

Though he enjoyed the experience, Jigra was embroiled in controversies, which also resulted in it underperforming at the box office. Ask how it affected him, and Raina shares, “As actors, we do all the mehnat to get appreciation for our work, and for people to enjoy it. So, when that goes amiss, or some people react a certain way, you question what you could have done better or differently. It’s a very natural way of dealing with things.”

The 24-year-old adds, “It’s now been a year in the industry for me, so I’m getting to understand these aspects a lot better. There’s a lot of constructive criticism to take away from Jigra. The pursuit is still the same — to become better with every film and reach a stage in life where it all pays off.”

Raina also sang for Jigra, and he is overjoyed with the response: “Singing was always my thing, even before acting. I was lucky that Vasan sir had seen some of the stuff that I’d done and I got the opportunity to sing two songs.”