Struggling actor Rupesh Kuber, who, while battling lack of offers and pressure to quit on his dreams, suffered a heart attack
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 9, 2019)

A heart attack at the age of 30, that’s the price Rupesh Kuber had to pay to survive in show business. On July 29, the actor was scheduled to return to Mumbai after a visit to his wife in Indore. He was to start looking for acting jobs, but the plan went awry when he suffered a heart attack and had to be hospitalised immediately. With medical costs putting a dent into his already dwindling finances, Rupesh turned to the Cine & TV Artists Association (CINTAA) for help.

He has been a member of the film body since the last four years but CINTAA has a rule that they cannot offer monetary assistance to anyone who has not been with them for at least five years. That, however, was not a deterrent in this case. “As soon as we learnt about Rupesh’s condition, we reached out to our members asking for voluntary contribution for his treatment,” says Darshan Jariwala, vice president of CINTAA. Rupesh admits that with their contribution and the little money he had of his own, he cleared his bills.

The actor had got his first break with a small role in Crime Patrol in 2014 after two years of struggle, going on to appear in other TV shows, Lapataganj and Neeli Chatri Waale. He has also done 10 short films. “Things started unravelling in 2016 when I had to take a short break to attend to my ailing mother. I was away in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, and had to let go of many promising opportunities,” he rues.

Rupesh had to make more trips to his hometown over the next two years as his mother’s health kept deteriorating. “It was during this period that I got married. I was spending so much time out of Mumbai that eventually I lost touch with people,” he sighs.

Since out of sight is out of mind, the actor had to begin afresh every time he returned to the city. “I used to sleep for just three hours a day, I lost my appetite because there were days when I ate just once. I had no money to send back home,” he reminisces from Rewa where he is recuperating.

Talking about what led to the attack, he says, “In the last one month, I returned home empty-handed every day. The fear of not getting work, coupled with pressure from back home to quit on my dream, got to me in the end. I was scared to start all over again at the age of 30.” For now, he has been advised a month’s rest. But once he gets the green signal, he promises to resume work. “I’ll pay back all those wonderful people who have helped me,” he concludes.

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; May 5, 2014)

Television actress Shilpa Shinde, who features in Lapataganj’s ongoing season, recently landed in a spot of trouble, when she got into a verbal duel with some members of Cine & Television Artistes Association (CINTAA). This ruckus even led to the cancellation of a shoot and the actress may also get fined by the union. A source from the unit says, “It was a seven to seven shift and since we were setting up a night shoot, it got a little delayed. But then one of the junior artistes complained about the shift getting extended by a few hours, and some union people arrived on the sets and created a ruckus about making the artistes work overtime. They even tried to stop the shooting; this has happened earlier as well except this time the situation escalated when Shilpa decided to intervene and the union people threatened her.”

Confirming the news, Shilpa says, “I cancelled my other work for this shoot and the union people just barged in and halted our shoot for more than an hour. Kicking up a fuss like this is not done, as it delays the shoot further. This time around, I told them that if they want artistes and technicians to not work, then they should just demand a pack up instead of interrupting the shoot.” She claims that she was threatened by one of the union members. “I don’t remember the name of the person but one of them told me that he would make sure that I don’t get work in this industry. Then the production team sorted out the issue and we had to pack up. I still don’t know if the union is planning to fine me to the tune of Rs 50,000. But if they do, I will ask them to pay me Rs 1 lakh because I am not scared of any organisation,” says the actress.

Another source says that the issue was finally resolved on the following day when the producers met with CINTAA officials. “Shooting for the show has already resumed and everything is back on track,” says the source.

When contacted, producer Ashwini Dheer said, “I out of town and I am not aware about the incident.” Dharmesh Tiwari from CINTAA remained unavailable for comment.