2024-05-06 23:40:56
‘I grew up in a middle class family in Kanpur. My father was a shoemaker and my mother was a librarian. We were going through financial crisis. Seeing the circumstances at home, I gave my best in school. I was in 5th class when I did the play for the first time. The applause I got was something else, so I continued acting in plays….’ These are not just lines, they are someone’s life. Life of Amit Sial. That actor, who did not get a place in films. His career was on the verge of ending, but his courage never broke. Traveled directly from Kanpur to Australia, where he worked in a restaurant and drove a taxi to earn his living. Let us meet Amit Sial today in our weekly segment ‘Monday Motivation’, whom you have seen in hit web series like ‘Mirzapur’ to ‘Maharani’. Amit Sial had told in an interview given to ‘Humans of Bombay’ How his acting journey started. He was pressurized by one of his teachers, Mishra ji, to get the lead role. He says, ‘I wanted to do acting, but leaving studies was not an option. So I went to Delhi to study B.Com. There I saw an advertisement for an English musical. I auditioned and got this ad. I was 18 years old at that time. But my parents did not believe that I would be successful as an actor. Then mother said to make a backup plan.
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Studied abroad by taking loan, started doing good job
Amit Siyal started acting from theatre.
Then the topic of MBA started at home. Amit told, ‘My parents took a loan to send me to Australia. I was studying there and was also working two jobs to survive. Despite this, I did theater on weekends. But when I returned to India, I did what was expected of me. I started working with my uncle in Delhi and was getting a good salary.
Left job, parents got scared
Amit told, ‘Soon after this I met a person from my theater days. This felt like a hint. And you know, I came back to acting. With each performance something kept changing inside me. It felt as if my heart was filling. So I decided to do full time acting. I was 29 years old then. My parents were nervous, but I said to them, ‘Why are you so worried? What are you afraid of? I had now come out of the fear of uncertainty.
Moved to Mumbai in 2003
48-year-old Amit said, ‘After a few months, Randeep Hooda called me. He was working on Ram Gopal Varma’s film and said I should audition for other roles. So in 2003 I came to Mumbai. Although I did not get that role, I still stayed there. After this the process of audition started.
Got my first role, but along with it came my ego.
Amit told that once he was 20 minutes late for the audition and everyone there got angry with him. However, before he left he said, ‘Lose some weight.’ I was confused, but later I came to know that he had got the role. I got 50 thousand rupees for that film. When I finished shooting I felt like that’s it – I’ve finally done it. Maybe it was ego, but I kept refusing the supporting role offers I got, because I wanted to be a hero.
Amit started again from zero
Amit did not get success so easily. That film of his was not released for four years and now he even stopped getting offers for supporting roles. After this he started again from zero. He did theatre. Did small roles. He destroyed his ego. After this he got shows like ‘A Simple Murder’, ‘Kathmandu Connection’ and ‘Maharani’.
It took many years to establish dominance on OTT
It took many years for Amit to establish his dominance on OTT. He had realized that he did not want to become a hero, nor did he want stardom. He just has to act. Now even his parents are happy with him and have retired him and sent him to Goa. He said, ‘So now, whenever I get a role, I am grateful. I realized that when you find purpose in life, you cannot let your ego rule you’
We get opportunities to turn dreams into reality
While giving a lesson to everyone, Amit said that you only get so many chances to turn your dreams into reality, so whenever you get that chance, take advantage of it and do not let it go.