Govinda’s son Yashvardhan Ahuja will soon be making his long-awaited Bollywood debut, but the young actor’s journey in showbiz has been far from easy. For Yash, who waited for 9 years to step into the movies, living outside the Bollywood bubble helped find his own identity and voice. And of course, he is inspired by his father’s career.

Talking to us about the advice Govinda gave him while he was trying to find a foothold in the industry, Yash told us,

“My father has never abused on screen. His only advice to me was filmon mein gaali-vaali mat dena. He believes everyone has their own journey. I never saw him learning his lines and yet, his timing is perfect. He has a photographic memory. No one can beat him at dancing or comic timing. Just observing him taught me a lot.”

Apparently Govinda gave 100 auditions before he was selected and believed his son should carve a path on his own too.

Yash auditioned for nine years before he bagged his first film, a romantic drama directed by National Award winner, Sai Rajesh. He was also an AD on films like Dishoom and Baaghi, and finally, his 79th audition got cleared, and that’s where it all started. 

Yash says, “It was Ranbir Kapoor who convinced me to go abroad and learn filmmaking. He said it’s important to live outside the Bollywood bubble and that helped me discover my own likes and dislikes, my identity, choices and in a way, my own voice. Beyond being a great actor, Ranbir also has the vision of a storyteller. I also went to acting school in London for a year. I attended acting workshops in Mumbai as well, which I continue to do even today. It’s like an endless thing. You can never say you know it all.”