I’ve never worked for the sake of paying my EMIs: Vipul Gupta

He has been a popular name in the telly world, courtesy his shows K.Street Pali Hill and India Calling, but he has also done his bit in films and the burgeoning OTT space. Now looking forward to mega projects — an upcoming ensemble film and a big web series helmed by Neeraj Pandey — actor Vipul Gupta says he was waiting for the right projects to come his way.

Vipul’s last TV show was Aarambh in 2017, the same year as he featured in Vikram Bhatt’s web offering Maaya. Ask him about the lull in his career that ensued, and he’s quick to say, “I’ll not call it a lull. I’d say it was a conscious effort to try to wait for the right work. I’m now looking forward to being a part of these big new projects and more of these projects.”

Acting, the Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011) actor asserts, is one of the toughest jobs, as the success ratio of being an actor vis-a-vis the number of people who are vying for work is negligible.

“For me, it depends from person-to-person and is circumstance-driven. I’ve never worked just for the sake of paying my EMIs. My only motive was to do good work. I never got tied down because of something like ‘Oh, I have to have this big house or pay those EMIs’. I never took that pressure. Right work and good work was important for me,” he says.

The path he has tried to follow, he admits, is tough, for sometimes, one has to let go of offers that are lucrative in terms of money and fame. “Like TV can give you instant fame also... So you have to let go of all this if you have to do some good work,” he adds.

Why did he leave TV behind? “TV isn’t left behind,” he says, adding, “I’ve been a part of television for the longest time.

I value it as a great medium. I can sustain myself in Mumbai. I have a house here purely because of TV, so I always value that. It’s just that I have not overdone it. I have done it sporadically, and I felt it would enhance me as an actor, plus [be fruitful] money wise also.”