4 hours agoAuthor: Ashish Tiwari/Arunima Shukla
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The film Lapata Ladies, which was released a few months ago, has received immense love from the audience. The most talked about character in the film is Deepak, played by Sparsh Srivastava.
Born in Rajasthan, Sparsh wanted to become a dancer and not an actor, but later on, apart from dancing, he mastered all the genres including singing, acting and writing.
However, in this journey, Sparsh had to face struggle at every turn. In this journey, he also had to go through a period of financial crisis. There came a time when there was very little money in the account. At that time, even his parents refused to support him, but Sparsh did not stop and kept moving forward.
Today in Struggle Story, read the story of Sparsh's struggle in his own words…
Sparsh wanted to become a dancer, not an actor
Talking about his childhood days, Sparsh says, 'I was born in a middle class family in Rajakheda, Rajasthan. Later the whole family shifted to Agra, where I was brought up. The family consists of father, mother and brother. If I talk about my childhood, it was the most beautiful period of my life.
The band members used to stay on the ground floor of the house where we lived in Agra. When they used to practice playing the band at night, I used to start dancing while sleeping. Seeing this act, my mother felt that I could become a dancer.
'After this, at the age of 11, I auditioned for the reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom. This audition was held in Delhi. Luckily, I was successful in cracking this audition. I stayed in Mumbai for a few months for the shooting of this show and returned home as a winner.
I never thought of becoming an actor. It was God who had written it for me. After winning the show Chak Dhoom Dhoom, I started getting small roles in some TV shows. I used to stay in Agra and give auditions for these shows. Then I used to go to Mumbai, shoot and return to Agra. Along with all this, I was also continuing my studies.
I did not have money to go to Mumbai, so I did writing work to earn my living
Talking about his future journey, Sparsh said, 'After doing some TV shows, I kept a distance from the industry for some time. In 2017, I planned to come back to Mumbai. This time was full of difficulties for me. I had absolutely no money at that time. I couldn't even ask my parents for money. Then I broke my FD, which had some 80-90 thousand rupees. Then I came to Mumbai with the help of this money.
After coming here, I bought a house and made all the arrangements for living. As a result, all the money got exhausted in the first month itself. There was no other source of income. I could not stay hungry for long. In such a situation, I started writing.
Initially, I wrote some songs for ND Studio located in Karjat. Then I wrote songs for another studio, which makes songs for reality shows. Some money started coming in due to writing.
I started doubting my decision to become an actor
'Along with writing, I was also giving auditions. Like other strugglers, the audition time was tiring for me too. I used to go for auditions every day, but was only disappointed. With the passage of time, I started having self-doubts about whether I would be able to succeed in what I had come to do or not. I also started thinking whether I had taken the wrong decision of becoming an actor.'
Had to start from zero again in the industry
Sparsh had to face a lot of difficulties when he rejoined the industry. He had to start from zero. About this, he says, 'By the time I rejoined the industry, many things had changed. Nobody remembered me. My old work had vanished from everyone's mind. In such a situation, I had to start from zero.'
I had no money, even my family members refused to give me money, then I cried a lot
After coming to Mumbai, Sparsh faced the biggest setback when he did not have money left for the rent. He said, 'There came a time when there were only 3 thousand rupees left in the account. I had to pay 10 thousand rupees as house rent. I could not even borrow money from friends. Then I called home to ask for money, but they also refused to give it, then I cried a lot.
Some time before this incident, I had written songs for someone. I had not taken payment from them then. When I faced this financial problem, I called them and asked for the outstanding amount. Luckily, they gave me 20 thousand rupees, which helped me pay the house rent.
I had made up my mind to quit acting when I did not get work
After working in TV, Sparsh made his OTT debut with the 2020 series Jamtara. About this, he said, 'I worked in Balika Vadhu in 2015. Three years later, in 2018, I auditioned for the series Jamtara. Despite being a TV actor, I was able to crack the audition of this series because the makers of Jamtara did not remember my work in the show Balika Vadhu. They considered me a new comer and gave me the work.
Luckily they did not remember my work because TV actors are looked down upon. Makers shy away from giving work to TV actors in big films and series.
If I had not got work in Jamtara, I would have probably given up the idea of acting. I had planned that now I would go to Agra and work on singing because I was tired of daily rejections, but then I got work in this series. At first some people from the production team did not want to cast me in the role of Sunny. They were not sure about me, but the director of the series had full faith in me.
They thought Aamir Khan's message was a prank
Aamir Khan had messaged Sparsh after seeing his work in the series Jamtara, but he thought it was a prank. Laughing about this, Sparsh said, 'Earlier I got a message from Sir. In that message he had written- I am Aamir Khan. I really liked your work in the series Jamtara. Can we talk?
After reading this message, I thought that a friend is joking with me. I replied to that message saying- If you are Aamir Khan then send a voice note, only then I will be able to believe it.
In response to my message, Aamir Khan said- If you are free for 2 minutes, I can video call you. Then when I saw Aamir Khan on the video call, I was stunned.
This is the specialty of Aamir Khan and his production company that they always try to give a break to newcomers. They do not give work on the basis of star kids. They give the highest importance to the ability of the actor.
Aamir made changes in his film as per Sparsh's suggestion
Sparsh first met Aamir Khan during the special screening of the film Lal Singh Chaddha. Talking about this day, Sparsh said, 'I met Sir for the first time during the screening. When I saw him, I was unable to say anything, but Aamir Khan has a special quality. He makes the other person very comfortable in a short time. Then it does not seem that you are talking to superstar Aamir Khan.
It was during this conversation that I suggested this to Aamir Khan for the film Lal Singh Chaddha, which he implemented in the film before its release.
Aamir Khan with the star cast of the film Missing Ladies and director Kiran Rao.
100 people auditioned for the role of Deepak, later Sparsh was selected
Sparsh further told how he became a part of the film Missing Ladies. He said, 'Around 100 people had auditioned for the role of Deepak. The special thing is that I am the person who auditioned first.
After everyone had auditioned, everyone including Aamir Sir locked my name.
After watching my work in the film, big actors from the entire industry like Salman Khan, Shabana Azmi, Farhan Akhtar praised me. Recently, I got a message from Farhan sir. While giving his blessings, he said- your work is very good.
Graphics – Kunal Sharma, Vipul Sharma