Vikrant Massey is a household name today thanks to popular hits like 12th failure but his success came after years of effort and hard work. An outsider in the Hindi film industry, he started working at the age of 16 when he and his family were facing financial difficulties and had no choice but to earn money to pay for his education. The actor, who will soon appear in a biopic of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, has revealed that at the age of 16, he was balancing two jobs and working 16-hour days to ensure he earned enough money to support his education.
“I have been very fortunate because the public has been very generous, even after 21 years of professional work. I started in television and worked almost a decade in television before acting in films. The love and support have only grown. And I say this with all humility because I am 38 years old and the public continues to support me,” he said in an interview with Republic.
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The actor said he faced the camera for the first time when he was 16 and the reason was purely monetary. “I was 16 years old when I faced the camera for the first time; I still remember the date, it was December 19, 2024. Before that, I was working as a barista. I did that job because I had to support my own education. I won’t go into that sad story or my struggle. I also used to work as an assistant instructor in Shiamak Davar’s company and in that restaurant in Bombay”recalls Vikrant.
Recalling those days, the actor said he drew inspiration from his own struggles for his twelfth flop character. “I was just 16 years old when I changed four local trains every day, worked 16 hours a day and often lived only on Parle-G and water to survive. No one does it of their own free will, definitely not a child. I did it because I had to,” Vikrant said.
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However, the actor recalled that his first program never saw the light of day even though he gave it more than 8 months of his life. “A lady named Deepthi Kalwani offered me my first TV appearance at the restaurant while I was working. I thought she liked my face. I was young and had stars in my eyes. Then she offered me my first TV show – to play the lead role. It was a fantasy show about a guy who became invisible. I left my stable job in Shiamak for this TV show. I used to teach with some of the senior instructors at Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts. The TV show offered They gave me a lot of money and I decided to accept the offer because I needed the money.”
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Vikrant said the program never materialized and, furthermore, a significant portion of the fee owed to him was never delivered. “I was in college, first year of college, which is basically Class 11 in Delhi. I filmed for the TV show (seven episodes over 8 or 9 months) but it never aired on TV. Something happened between the stations and the producers and was never shown. I was absolutely devastated. I was waiting for him and half of the money they owed me was unpaid. In the end he ended up becoming a pilot. I remember it finally aired years later at 2am on Star Plus as it was owned by Star. So many things happen that the actors don’t actually know about as they are the last people to join. The producer was very kind. She knew that I had left a stable job and also the financial situation I was in. “They offered me a job in the production office.”
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In an earlier interview with Faye D’Souza, Vikrant had recalled his family’s journey from riches to rags when they had no choice but to leave their comfortable home in Juhu and live in a slum for a while. “They used to live in Juhu and were neighbors of the Kapoor family. Theirs was a classic story from a Hindi film: they had a family dispute, were kicked out of their own house, lived in shelters with a baby for almost a year and finally moved to Versova. They have seen great ups and downs. Although you are no longer a part of it, your parents make sure that you remember this through their experiences – the transience and fickle nature of life. Today I am sitting in a position of privilege and I don’t feel like I did 20 years ago when I started, but can’t it happen again tomorrow? Of course it can!