This time in the struggle story we have included the story of actor Amit Sial. This is the same Amit Syal who played the role of Naveen Kumar in the series 'Maharani', Brijesh Bhan in 'Jamatara' and Ram Sharan Maurya in 'Mirzapur'. He played the role of Lalan Sudhir in Ajay Devgan's film 'Raid'. Amit reached Dainik Bhaskar's office in Mumbai at 2 pm. After some formality he began to narrate the story of the struggle. He said he had to go to Australia to prove himself to his parents, where he sometimes drove a taxi and sometimes washed dishes. He said- I do not consider these tasks small, as a result of which I am climbing the ladder of success one after another. Read Amit Sial's story, in his own words… Made a plan to go to Australia to escape the taunts of his parents. About this he says, 'Once I joined theatre, I couldn't stay away from it. Moved to Delhi and took a course at Barry Jones Acting School for some time. I was losing interest in studies. Seeing my condition, my parents started panicking. Everyday he used to say just this – son, focus on studies, but I couldn't think of anything else but acting. I had a friend at that time. His condition was exactly like mine. Both of us were victims of family taunts. At the same time, student visas opened up in Australia. Knowing about this, my friend and I thought about it. We had planned that we would go to Australia, study and work there, so that our family would be convinced that we were serious about the future. One by one we told this to our family members. At first father flatly refused, but still I continued to cry. Eventually he had to agree, but the friend failed to convince his family. Thus, with the consent of the family, I went to Australia. Sometimes washing dishes and sometimes driving a taxi in Australia, Amit continues, 'After reaching Australia, I got a real lesson in life. I had already planned that I would work and study there. On reaching there, I got a job washing dishes in a hotel. For 6 hours of work, $35 was paid and meals were provided. Neither I nor my family members ever underestimated any work. Besides washing dishes, I also drove a taxi and worked as a door-to-door salesman. Living in a country like Australia, I could not take help from my parents for my living. That is why I have taken up the responsibility of doing all this work. Also drove a taxi with Randeep Hooda When Amit was living in Australia, he met actor Randeep Hooda, who later became his best friend. About his friendship with Randeep, Amit says, 'It was when I was 21 years old. One day Randeep came to my place in Australia. I met him through a common friend. We became friends after the first meeting. Randeep and I used to talk only about films whenever we met. We have also driven taxis together. Randeep was also modeling there. Came back to Delhi in 2001, couldn't find work so started selling chappals Amit returned to India in 2001. Either way, it was Randeep who made Amit come back to India. Regarding this, Amit said, 'After staying in Australia for some time, Randeep decided to return to India and work in the acting field. I also followed in his footsteps.' 'I came straight from Australia to Delhi. Applied for jobs in many places in Delhi, but got nowhere due to recession. Many days passed without work. Exhausted, I had to return to Kanpur. I thought of helping my father in the shoe business, but I couldn't get along with him. Finally I had to go back to Delhi. There I met some theater friends. The same friends inspired me to join theater again. Once again my mind turned to acting. It was as if I would die if I didn't act. At this time I opened a takeaway (a kind of restaurant). I thought that if I can't find work anywhere, I won't starve. First film released after 4 years In further conversation, Amit spoke about the first hurdle he faced in the film industry. He says, 'One day Randeep Hooda called and offered to work in D film. I followed his advice and came to Mumbai, but the film could not start on time. At that time director Tanuja Chandra was making the film. Randeep asked me to audition for this film as well. I was late on the day of the audition itself, which made Tanuja ji very angry. However, I auditioned and got selected. I got 50 thousand rupees as signing amount for the film. 'I was supposed to share the screen with actress Mahima Chaudhary in this film. It seemed that my career would be set after doing this film. I felt proud that my work was good and I didn't have to struggle. Those who struggle do not work. Just brings the industry into disrepute.' 'As a result I had to suffer the consequences of this arrogance. It took 4 years to release this film. After this I had to start from zero again.' Heartbroken after first film's release was delayed Amit was devastated when his first film was stalled for a long time. He said, 'It was a very painful time for me. I started getting angry with myself. I was afraid that no one would support me at this time. One thing is absolutely true that one cannot digest sudden success. That's exactly what happened to me.' 'After supporting myself for a while, I once again started afresh with theatre. I also kept doing small scenes in films, from which I learned a lot.' Amit has worked more in OTT than films. His biggest success was the series 'Inside Edge'. After this he never looked back. Ajay is going to do a film with Akshay and Madhavan Amit also talked about the upcoming project. He said, 'The film 'Raid 2' is going to be released in the near future. I have worked in that too. Apart from this, there is a film of Dharma production with Akshay and Madhavan sir. Apart from this there is also 1-2 category.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
Amit Sial worked as a dishwasher in Australia: also drove a taxi, sat in a shoe shop; The barely received first film was not released for 4 years
