What’s in the name...

Nothing, feels Angad Bedi, who believes that it’s talent and not surname that takes you ahead Pink, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, The actor speaks to FPJ about his 18 years of struggle to become an actor

am a very proud Bedi,” says actor Angad Bedi – son of former Indian cricket captain Bishan Singh Bedi – who says having a certain surname alone can’t take a person anywhere. It takes talent, hard work and luck in equal measure if one is to climb the ladder.

Nepotism was a popular word in Bollywood last year, what with the debate that actress Kangana Ranaut sparked by calling filmmaker Karan Johar a “flagbearer of nepotism”.

Asked if his surname has helped him, Angad, whose latest release is said, “Not at all. A surname can never take you anywhere. It’s your talent and potential that take you places. But, yes, I am a very proud Bedi and I am very proud to be born to Bishan Singh Bedi, who has done our country proud for 20 years. Just to be his son is an achievement in its own way, but I wanted my father to be proud of his son, and he was when he saw

He is liking the choice of work I am doing. Let’s see where I go from here.”

It was Shoojit Sircar’s production

Pink. Tiger Zinda Hai,

which saw him play the misogynistic Rajveer Singh, that changed the course of his career, landing him a chance in projects like and Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer

Reflecting on his journey, he pointed to a “simple thumb rule” of the industry. “If the film works, everybody works (with you). If it doesn’t, nobody works (with you).”

Actors come in phases, he said, adding, “In 2016, it was Sushant Singh Rajput all the

Inside Edge Tiger Zinda Hai.

way with

in 2017, everyone was talking about Rajkummar Rao... Hopefully, in the new year, if people talk about me in the same light as how they talk about Rajkummar, I will feel I have achieved something.”

As far as is concerned, he hopes it has exposed him to the audience and market that a Salman movie commands. Angad’s next movie is with Diljit Dosanjh. It is a biopic based on the hockey legend Sandeep Singh.

Soorma Tiger Zinda Hai

ineet Kumar Singh, who plays the lead role in Anurag Kashayap’s Mukkabaaz, says after 18 years of struggle he is getting roles where he can showcase his talent. After

Vineet has already bagged a role in Akshay Kumar’s

“I want to do good roles, but unfortunately an actor can’t choose that. I have been offered a lot of roles now, and I have just completed and I am also part of and I enjoyed shooting I was injured after finihsing

but I did not tell anyone of my injuries as I was afraid that they might remove me from the movie if they found out,” reveals Vineet.

But the road to stardom has not been easy.“I came to Mumbai in 1999-2000 and auditioned for a talent hunt competition. After I won the competition, I got my first Marathi film with Mahesh Manjrekar, I thought this was my big break and now I would become a star. The film was a flop and all my dreams shattered. After that I struggled for 10 years before I got good work,” he says.

“I knew Anurag personally, but never asked him for work

We had that Banaras connection, but nothing else. I didn’t want to be one of those guys who has been rejected by him. Luckily when I met him next he was casting for and then I worked in two other film with him - and But after I realised I was getting similar work that I did in which I was not happy with,” he adds.

Speaking further about his ordeal, the

actor says,“I had struggled a lot and my family also sacrificed so much for me. I was in dire straits and I had to break all my sister’s and mother’s policies to survive. I didn’t feel doing the same role again and again and which is why I decided to write a script from myself. As I had a sports background I decided to write a script on the struggles of a sportsman; I played basketball till national level. But didn’t want to make a team film as I felt I would not be the focus of it, so I chose boxing.”

“When I pitched my script, l just had one condition: I would play the lead character. People liked the script, but they couldn’t see me as the lead. Some even asked me to choose another role, but I was adamant. After roaming around with it for three years, I decided to ask Anurag for his suggestions. I can never forget the phone call I received after he had finished reading the script. He said he will be making it, but I will have to become a boxer for it, otherwise he will shelve it. That night I packed my bags and returned as boxer,” narrates Vineet.

Albeit the original script written by him had been heavily modified by Anurag, but Vineet didn’t care about that, he was happy to finally get a chance to be a leading actor.“While there were many changes and additions to the script it didn’t matter to me, I was only focused on acting. I did include the politics and the way the sportsman is treated in this country. I just wanted to unlearn everything that I knew as Anurag sir changes the scene according to the surrounding,” says Vineet.