‘Girls used to kiss Rajesh Khanna’s car, no one even said hello to him on set after downfall,’ says Baghban actor Samir Soni on harsh realities of acting profession

Actor Samir Soni known for his portrayals in films like Baghban, China Gate, I Hate Luv Storys and others, recently shared the harsh realities of the acting profession citing the example of Bollywood’s first superstar  Rajesh Khanna.

“It takes 100 days to make a film. What is the real life of an actor, has anyone ever asked? Nawazuddin Siddiqui was a watchman and that’s a reality, its not a lie. There was a time when girls would stop  Rajesh Khanna’s car and kiss it. Then there was another time when he was sitting on set and no one would even say hello to him. This phase (the downfall) is much longer than that (success),” said Samir while talking to Ujjwal Trivedi.

“You should know why you want to be an actor. If you want to be an actor because you like glamour, then please don’t even try. These are wrong reasons to be an actor, because these are the things you can’t depend on, chances of these things happening are very remote. But if you still want to take a chance, then don’t sit and cry and be ready to waste the next four to five years of your life; because what will happen is when even the smallest difficulty comes, you’d want to escape. The glamour you see, you should know what goes behind it,” added the actor.

“Whatever profession you are in, you should know… You should know what a doctor does (if you want to become a doctor). At least you that to be a doctor, you’ll have to go to college, do MBBS, do an internship, get a specialisation. Then you can treat a patient,” Soni said.

“You think an actor’s job is done if you have six packs, if you look good. Do you even know that an actor, before he gets work, had no money to even pay rent for six to eight months. That is the reality. What you do in front of the camera, you do it because you enjoy it, it is an art. You might go empty stomach for ten months…” concluded the veteran actor.