How the Bollywood bug kept Sidharth from quitting films
There were times when I thought of quitting, but I brushed those thoughts away and wanted to give it more time... The Bollywood bug had bitten me.
SIDHARTH MALHOTRA
ACTOR
Sidharth Malhota has revealed that he got his big break in Student of the Year (2012) only after a long, often discouraging phase of struggle in Mumbai. Malhotra, who hails from Delhi, did think about quitting the city and acting at times, but his love for the craft would drive all the doubts away.
“There were times when I thought of quitting, but I brushed those thoughts away and wanted to give it more time. I used to think that it might seem unproductive right [then], but the Bollywood bug had bitten me,” he says.
Malhotra, who has since gone on to be part of successful films such as Hasee Toh Phasee (2014), Kapoor & Sons (2016), and Ittefaq (2017), explains why giving up on his dreams wasn’t a option. “I had nothing that was waiting for me back home. My family is not into business. We are a simple middle-class family. So, it wasn’t like they were waiting for me to come back and join the family business,” he says.
“What would I have done had I quit, and gone back? They were worried that I would come back and sit unemployed,” reveals the 33-year-old.
Six years and nine films old in the industry, the actor has largely managed to stay away from controversy, until recently, when his comments on the Bhojpuri language didn’t go down well with some. The issue is water under the bridge now, but Sidharth stresses that it is important to understand the intentions behind comments.
“People have to understand the intention behind things [that] happen at gigs or reality shows. They do not know the twenty minutes before that part and what happens twenty minutes after. The tonality can get lost after the edit. I think intentions matter, as opposed to misconstruing what happened,” he clarifies.