There Was Time When I Was Even Ready to Pay to Act But Still Got Rejected, Says Vicky Kaushal

For Vicky Kaushal, it's a huge thing that his seemingly ever-evolving film career, less than a five years in, already contains starring roles in blockbusters such as Sanju and Uri: The Surgical Strike. But it wasn't an easy journey for him, he said.

Vicky revealed that when he was struggling to follow his lifelong dream of becoming an actor, he would give multiple auditions in a day, wherein he'd even offer to play those parts for free but casting directors would still reject him.

"I just wanted work and do good acting. I would always get selected in top 2 or 3 during auditions, but they would reject me after asking my budget. I would think that 'maybe, they have rejected me because of my budget.' So then, I started asking them their budget. When I said I would do in their budget, they would still reject me. Then I said I would work for free (laughs), they would still not take me. At last, I had to say that I would pay but give me work," Vicky said in a group interview, while promoting Bhoot Part One- The Haunted Ship.

From knocking on the doors of several production houses for auditions to becoming a sought-after actor in Bollywood, Vicky has definitely come a long way.

"It's been a beautiful year. Like I said, from the time where I was even ready to pay to act, to getting so much love and appreciation from the audience, it's been amazing. It's a great feeling that I'm getting to work with filmmakers and producers I've always dreamt about. I feel your confident also increases that you're on a right track," he said.

And that might be what’s fueling Vicky most of all, that drive to prove himself again and again.

"Uri was made by a debutant filmmaker. I also didn't headline any big film before that. So, I had a huge responsibility and there was a baggage for sure. But luckily, the film struck the right chord and the audience accepted it. Its success is also a proof that you must go for a script you like because you never know what that Friday might bring to you. We are in an excellent phase, where people are not just dependent on what's the packaging of a film. If the content is good, people will support your film. Look what happened with Uri. People literally snatched Uri from us and made it their own, and that was the most special feeling for all of us," Vicky added.

Vicky's recently released film Bhoot has done an average business at the box office. The film has reportedly made Rs 30 crores at the end of the third week.

Meanwhile, Vicky will next be seen in Shoojit Sircar's biopic on Udham Singh. The film traces the life story of the revolutionary who assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, who was the Governor of Punjab when the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in 1919.