‘The public recognised me only when they saw me with mom’

He is the new star kid on the block, without any trappings. Abhimanyu Dassani, the son of the ’90s actors Bhagyashree and Himalaya, says his upbringing was as normal as it can get.

“People recognised me in public only when they saw me with my mom... I was brought up on a lot of principles. There was more pressure on me to be a good human being. Also, I don’t have any friends from the film circle, and haven’t been to any filmi parties,” he says.

The 28-year-old is making his acting debut with the film, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, about a guy who can’t feel pain.

How did he land the project? “Someone sent me a Twitter screenshot about auditions for a martial arts film; they needed a boy aged 22-23. This was during 2016 monsoon. I reached home at nine in the night, and wasn’t given a chance to audition. The same happened the next day. On the third day, I was finally shortlisted. I gave some 25-30 auditions in all,” he recalls.

It’s not common for a star kid to go through the whole hog. Abhimanyu was sure he wanted to make it on his own. “No matter how much you get in your life, what is it worth if it’s not deserved?” he says.

Abhimanyu, who, at one point was in the process of setting up businesses, “got interested in acting and filmmaking,” and went to Lee Strasberg for method acting. “My teacher and the director of the course was Lola Koel, who had been the classmate of Hollywood actor Al Pacino. I went up to her at the end of the course and asked her, ‘Should I choose this as a career, or let it remain a passion?’ She said, ‘Abi, If you don’t give this an honest chance, I am going to be disappointed, because you bring something new to the table every time.” And so, he’s set to give this a shot .

Abhimanyu Dassani is actor Bhagyashree’s (inset) son