Carry on dreaming!

Encouraged by the support of his friends and his victory in an inter-college modelling competition, Bhushan Patil, an engineering graduate, left his farming family home in  Badhawad village in Dhule (Maharashtra) in 2007 for Mumbai to fulfil his Bollywood dream. And though he fell in love with the city while viewing it from a ‘Mumbai Darshan' bus, he soon realised the arduous nature of the glamorous industry. 

The city was too big and too busy to give a village boy with a pretty face any attention; he knew he would have to put in strenuous efforts to be noticed. Coming from a poor family, Bhushan had to fund his dream himself. He had come with nothing but Rs 200 in his pocket and a motorbike, his prized possession, which he had bought from what he had made selling firecrackers in his village.

A week in Mumbai and acquired knowledge of the acting industry forced Bhushan to sell his dear bike to make enough money for a decent portfolio, a meal a day and the rickshaw fares to and from audition centres.

“I would go stand in queues at 7 in the morning, and would be made to say two lines in front of a camera at 7 at night...I must have attended thousands of auditions, but never got a single call. I had come to Mumbai with the lead role in mind, and didn't even get a small one.”

There isn't anything wrong with Bhushan. He has the looks and the talent to become an actor, but there are hundreds of others like him. He has been in this city for seven years now, struggling each day, and has only recently been receiving calls from casting directors offering small roles in TV serials.

Bhushan is one among hundreds who come to the city everyday with the hope of making it big in the film industry, but soon realise that one needs far more than just innocent desire for fame to do so.

Mansi Sharma, an actor from Jakarta (Indonesia), has been here in Mumbai for only four years now with a similar desire, but the fear of failure is already beginning to haunt her. With roots in Jaipur and Haryana, Mansi's family moved to Jakarta with the hope of prospering financially when she was five. As her father's company gradually blossomed, it was assumed that Mansi would assist the family business after graduation. But her heart lay elsewhere.

Though she has spent the major part of her life in a foreign country, Bollywood has been integral to her survival. Bollywood beats excite her, and she often finds herself mimicking stars she watches on screen. While her classmates got excited about cartoons and Barbie, Mansi would jump at the mention of Filmfare and Shah Rukh Khan. At first, her parents laughed it off, but as she grew older they realised the big screen was what she truly wanted.

Her struggle began at 16: posters of film stars on the walls of her room were soon accompanied by work out schedules and diet charts. Mansi tried to grow as an actor by taking up theatre and went on to win the runner-up position in Miss India Indonesia.

However, her eyes really opened in 2011 after she came to Mumbai. She had the looks and the talent, but not a single role came her way. She keeps hoping that a producer would notice her in a coffee shop one day, or that some script would require the kind of acting skills she has. But as of now, she simply waits, hoping for the big break!

“I have no Plan B, so I am scared. Mumbai is overwhelming. There are too many people striving to scrape a role. That has however made me want it more. I guess when you dream Bombay, there’s no going back.”

Vikrant Malik had always been praised for his good looks and brilliance on stage while in Sonipat, Haryana, but six years in Mumbai have forced him to think otherwise.

Vikrant, now 26, came to Mumbai when he was 21 with a passion for acting and a desire to showcase it. Having been born in Sonipat and educated in Delhi, Vikrant was alien to Mumbai’s fast-paced world. He spent his first few years moving back and forth between Delhi and Mumbai, and working at odd jobs to survive. When Vikrant had finally earned enough, he was 24 and applied for admission in Anupam Kher’s Acting School. 

“The fee was enormous, my parents would not give me that much money as they did not support my desire to act. And I doubt if they had that much money to give me in the first place.”

Vikrant believes that the acting school helped him become part of the alien city. “I met many people who shared my dream. At first that comforted me, but it soon grew into a threat. Today it scares me, because most of my classmates have now given up and gone back. I don’t want to give up, but it's certainly scary to go through this alone.”

He has been to several auditions, but hasn’t received any calls or signed any contract. “When auditions didn’t work, people asked me to start networking. I laughed at the idea, because it frightened me. I didn’t know anyone in this city, so how could I simply start networking? Production houses wouldn’t let me in without recommendations…people in the city discouraged me, telling me to give up. I don’t want to do that, I have taken the biggest risk of my life, I cannot give up so easily. I’m just waiting for the opportunity. If I meet the right person at the right place at the right time, I’m sure I'll make it big.”

These are just a few names among the thousands who look at the big screen with awe. They all share a dream and the struggle, but hardly anyone makes it big. They are all inspired by the success stories of superstars, and can't help but see themselves in their shoes one day.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was such a dreamer! A Delhi boy with an engineering degree, who was the son of a kerosene dealer, Khan came to Mumbai in 1991; and today he is one of the biggest stars in India, admired by millions around the globe. The great Amitabh Bachchan was a freight broker in a small shipping company in Kolkata when he came to Mumbai with a Bollywood dream in 1969. Akshay Kumar, a favorite of the masses, was a waiter in a small restaurant in Thailand before he came to Mumbai hoping to make it big. 

These actors had nothing but their dream when they came to this seductive city. If they could, why can't I, is the feeling every aspiring 'hero' has.

While it seems easy to turn around and walkaway, hope holds them back. Some of them like Bhushan Patil get into television, advertisements and other mediums, hoping to be noticed some day. Others take up small jobs to survive. 

Despite the stories of rejection and struggle, nearly 20,000 such dreamers come to Mumbai everyday attracted by the glamour. Mumbai chews, swallows or spits many out, but hope keeps attracting others, and hundreds will continue to line up for auditions.