24 minutes agoAuthor: Ashish Tiwari/Arunima Shukla
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The recently released film 'Munjya' is earning a lot at the box office. The film has earned 110.70 crores in 20 days. The direction and story of the film is being discussed everywhere, but the one who is being discussed the most is the lead actor of the film, Abhay Verma.
This is the first film in which Abhay has played the lead role. He was also seen in Manoj Bajpayee's web series Family Man Season 2. At the beginning of his career, he also worked in a film of Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
However, this journey which looked easy was not at all easy. Abhay and his family had to go through a time when they had to sell their house due to financial crisis. When the father fell ill, the mother took care of the household responsibilities. When there was no money, she took a loan to get the children educated.
At 2 pm in the afternoon, Abhay Verma was telling us this story of his struggle in the office of Dainik Bhaskar in Mumbai.
In today's Struggle Story, read the story of Abhay Verma's struggle in his own words…
Mother completed her studies by taking loan
Talking about his childhood days, Abhay says, 'I had a complete family consisting of my parents, brother and sister. My father had a small jewellery shop. The condition of my house was the same as that of a middle class family.
We were all living happily in those conditions when Papa got jaundice. I was in the sixth class at that time. Papa's health deteriorated day by day. Jaundice increased so much that his liver got damaged. Doctors advised him to take proper bed rest.
Papa was the only earning member in the entire family. When Papa fell ill, this responsibility fell on mother's shoulders. Papa's medical expenses were so high that slowly all the money started to run out. There was no other source of income. In such a situation, the house in which we lived had to be sold. Later the entire family shifted to a smaller house.
There was such a financial crisis that there was no money left even for my fees. I had to study, so my mother took a loan for this, which I later repaid from my earnings. Today I am happy that I was able to help my mother in reducing this burden.
Today I live in an air conditioned house. Here I am giving you an interview sitting in an air conditioned office, but there was a time when there were no fans in the house.
While saying these things, Abhay gets emotional. After being quiet for some time, he starts telling the story again.
After watching Bhansali's film Ram Leela, I decided to become an actor
Did you decide to enter the acting field because of your brother? In response, Abhay said, 'It is not like that. I had never even thought of becoming an actor. There is a story about how I got hooked to acting. Actually, I had scored very low marks in 8th class. Despite this, on the day of the result, I went to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film 'Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela'.
The film ended, but I stood there like a statue. I started thinking that I can also entertain people like the characters of the film. I went crazy after seeing the direction of the film. This was the moment when I decided to become an actor.
He lost his father at a young age, his mother supported his decision to become an actor
Did the family support his decision to become an actor? Abhay said, 'I could not tell my father about this dream. He remained bedridden for 3 years. I did not get a chance to tell him about this dream.
When I was in 9th class, my father passed away. After that, my mother did everything. When she came to know about my dream, she supported me a lot.
Abhay with his mother in the picture.
He came to Mumbai at the age of 19 to become an actor.
Abhay told that after completing his studies, he came to Mumbai at the age of 19. Here he did not face any problem regarding accommodation and food because his elder brother Abhishek already lived here, but he too had to struggle like other strugglers to get work.
The audition journey was full of struggle
How was the phase of rejection and auditions? In response, Abhay says, 'I had to face a lot of rejections before getting my first break. When I was new in Mumbai, I used to go to Aram Nagar every morning with 4-5 types of clothes in a bag for auditions. Aram Nagar is the place in Mumbai where most of the auditions take place.
I used to roam around giving auditions from morning to night and then return home with the NOT FIT tag. Initially I used to feel very bad, I used to get dejected. Then my brother explained to me- this is what happens in this field. After giving the audition, you should forget it, don't wait for the result.
After this, I followed my brother's suggestion. After about one and a half years, I got work in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Mann Bairagi. In this film, I played the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Abhay has also worked with Amitabh Bachchan in an ad film.
People also taunted me for choosing acting as a profession
Has anyone ever made fun of you for choosing acting as a profession? On this question, Abhay laughs and says, 'It was the first day of college. A teacher took the introduction of all the students. When I told him that I want to become an actor, he said in a taunting tone – so you will become an actor.
This is an incident that I will probably never forget. Perhaps these taunts of people helped me to move forward and reach the position I am in today.
Shot only for 4 days for the series Family Man 2, yet got popularity
After this, Abhay was seen in series like Marzi and Little Things, but he did not get much popularity from these series. After this, Abhay appeared in the web series Family Man 2. In this, he played the role of Kalyan.
Talking about his experience of working in this series, Abhay said, 'I shot for this series for only 4 days. While shooting, I had no idea that I would become such a hit in the role of Kalyan. After working in this series, I realized that even in 4 days of shooting, we can do such a good job that the audience can remember it for 40 years.'
Abhay played the role of a man named Kalyan in the series Family Man Season 2. Actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Sharib Hashmi appeared in this series.
The boys tried to misbehave with her thinking she was a real transgender
Abhay played the role of transgender Chandni in the 2023 film Safed. He adopted a unique method to fit into this character. He said, 'When I got the offer for this role, my mother and brother did not want me to work in this film. Initially, I was also not sure about this role, but after some time I agreed to work.
I wanted to leave my own mark in this character. I went to Banaras 2 months before the shooting started and started living there like a transgender. Even today transgenders are looked down upon in society and I too felt this. When I used to meet people as real, their attitude towards me was very good, but when I met people in transgender attire, people used to rebuke me.
One day I was returning to the hotel late at night. Then I met some rowdy boys who were drunk. Thinking me to be a transgender, they stopped me in the middle of the road and started misbehaving. To avoid the matter from getting worse, I told them my reality that I am not a transgender, I am just doing this for the film. Then they let me go.
After this incident, a similar incident happened to me one more day. That day I was not scared but scolded the people who were misbehaving. Then they apologized and ran away.
Alia Bhatt replaced for the film Munjya, the first actor to replace an actress
The recently released film Munjya is getting a lot of love from the audience. Abhay Verma is in the lead role of the film. Talking about his experience of working in the film, Abhay said, 'After auditioning about 150 people, I have been cast in the role of Bittu.
The special thing is that according to the script, some actress was supposed to play the role of Bittu. Alia Bhatt's name was almost finalized for this, but later I was chosen. I am the first actor who has replaced an actress for a role.
After everything was finalized, for some reason the shooting was stopped for 2-3 months. Due to this I was very scared that I might be removed from this role and some big actor might be cast. However, this did not happen.
One day while shooting for the film, I got hurt and my spine was fractured. Initially, I thought I would sleep on the hotel's best mattress, but after getting hurt, I had to sleep on the hotel floor. However, this injury helped me a lot during the shooting. Due to the injury, there was always pain in my body and I was unable to sleep. Due to which, according to the script, the expressions of pain and fatigue were naturally seen on my face.
Abhay told that he has no upcoming project. Currently, he is enjoying the success of the film Munjya.