‘Not dissatisfied with my career’

Actor Vishal Malhotra is on cloud nine after his recent film Tu Hai Mera Sunday received good response from the audience and the critics alike. Starting off as an actor at a young age, he shot to fame with the popular TV show Hip Hip Hurray, became a well-known face on television in the 90s, and eventually went on to do films.

Vishal tells us how he actually came into the profession. “I was 17 at that time. It was so simple, I didn’t even realise I was working! I was getting paid `4000 for a day’s work in those times, and that just blew my mind away. The next thing I know — I am travelling across the world, somebody is coming up to me and asking me ‘please sign this paper’ — which was my first autograph as a kid — I was taken aback. It was so surreal, since I didn’t belong to a film family,” says the 37-year old, who has done supporting roles in films such as Ishq Vishk (2003), Kismat Konnection and Jannat (both 2008).

When asked whether things would have turned out differently had he been a part of a family that was already into the film business, Vishal says, “Maybe. I also feel that I wouldn’t have made the mistake of taking up similar kind of roles. I would have been saved from the [getting cast as a] stereotype, because someone would have guided me. But I am in no way dissatisfied or angry. Today, there are billions of people who want to become an actor, and all they want is just five minutes in front of the camera. I am lucky that I have been able to sustain myself here for almost 20 years now.”