Vishal Jethwa is currently on top on the success of Homebound. While the film may not have made the final nominations at this year’s Academy Awards, it marked a significant moment in the actor’s career, earning him recognition both nationally and internationally. For Vishal, this moment serves as a much-needed confidence booster. After her debut in Mardaani 2, her journey in the industry had gone through a relatively lukewarm phase. Homebound puts him firmly back on the map, standing as a worthy milestone in his long journey as an outsider striving to break into the tightly closed world of Bollywood.
Recently, in a conversation with Humans of Bombay, Vishal opened up about his difficult past and the circumstances that shaped him. Reflecting on his upbringing, he said: “I come from a lower middle class, or rather, very poor, family. I consider it a privilege because it gave me the opportunity to grow, as an actor and as a person. I watched my parents’ lives closely. I lost my father at a very young age and saw how my mother single-handedly raised us all and continued to keep us going. I experienced financial crises. I didn’t have a normal childhood like everyone else, but in some ways, that has also helped me grow up as actor.”
Talking more about his early years, Vishal recalls his childhood and education. “I studied in a Gujarati medium school and lived in Malad. After sixth grade, we moved to Mira Road. Later, I went to Thakur College in Kandivali, that was my childhood. When I was in ninth grade, I started working as a background dancer in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs. Once, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Asin came to promote their film London Dreams, and I danced in the background. But after a while, I realized that this “It wasn’t what I wanted to do.”
“My mother worked as a domestic help,” says Vishal Jethwa
Vishal Jethwa spoke with visible emotion about his mother and the challenges she faced while raising him. “I am very close to my mother because of the struggle and sacrifice she has endured. Even before I start talking about my own journey and everything I have done, I immediately think about what she has done for me. She had a very tough childhood. In that sense, mine was much better because my parents never made me realize what we were missing.”
Elaborating on her difficulties, she added: “Her childhood was such that she worked as a domestic help. She went from house to house doing cleaning jobs. When I think about that, I realize, what do I really have to complain about in life?”
Vishal Jethwa has also opened up about his family’s struggles in previous interviews. In one of those conversations, he revealed“I come from a very poor family and I really had confidence because my sister told me before I left: ‘Don’t stress so much, because you are the son of a maid.’ She literally cleaned people’s houses, jhadoo-pocha, and sold sanitary pads in a supermarket. “My father sold coconut water, I have seen all this.”
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He continued to reflect on how his life has changed since then. “Today, of course, my life has gone beyond that. And I don’t even realize how great privilege is. We tend to think that privilege is just a positive word, that it only brings benefits. But that’s not true. With privilege comes greater responsibility.”