From A Bhojpuri Film To A Deo Ad: Vicky Kaushal Looks Back At The Auditions He Failed

Vicky Kaushal has been having a stellar 2018, with releases such as Raazi, Sanju, Lust Stories and Manmarziyaan under his belt. He is also slated to appear in Karan Johar's historical drama Takht and the teaser of his next film, Uri, dropped recently. While Vicky might be an in-demand actor now, in a conversation for Idea 4G Meri Real Life, he reveals that that wasn't always the case.

ON WHAT HIS 'AUDITION BAG' CONTAINED 

This photo was sent to me by a casting director's assistant, who's my friend. He sent it to me because he was going through his database for this new ad film he was casting and in his database, he found this picture. I was like, 'Thank you so much for sharing this.' And he just sent me, 'This is where you started from.' It's so important to remember where you started from. I still have that bag with me. It was a bag where I used to have formal clothes, traditional clothes and a trimmer. Saare yeh weapons leke mein chalta tha ki kahin bhi, koi bhi bolega ki Diwali ki ad hai, theek hai – traditional pehen ke khade ho gaye. Executive ad hai? Formals pehen ke khade ho gaye. So I used to have this bag with me and that used to be my favourite t-shirt then and this slate, I'm sure you know the importance of the slate. In our sleep also, we used to be like, 'Am I fit for the audition. Left profile, right profile.' So these were beautiful days but it's scary now.

ON AUDITIONING FOR A BHOJPURI FILM

Once, I stood in line for an hour and a half for a Bhojpuri film, which I knew I wasn't going to do. But, uss din koi audition nahi ho raha tha and I used to feel that jis din koi audition nahi hua, mera din productive nahi hua. Kahin bhi, koi audition de do. Karna hai, nahi karna hai, that I'll take a call. But it was very important for me to know that the casting guys feel that I have it in me. I need to get that call ki 'You're selected' and then I can say that 'Okay this is not what I want to do.' But that call used to motivate me. I still remember that Bhojpuri scene. They had written the script and they had pasted that page outside the room and I read that. It was a very typically woh Mandir mein jaa ke '80s wala scene ki ghantiya baja ke you're abusing God ki tumne kya kiya mere saath. I was like, 'Haha yeh kya hai?' And then I was like, 'What if I had to convince an audience with these lines?' Let me just do this. And I stood in line for an hour and a half and I gave the audition. Mujhe uske liye bhi call waapas nahi aaya. I was like, 'Yaar iske liye mujhe call nahi aaya?"

ON HOW BEING REJECTED FOR A DEO AD STAYED WITH HIM

I knocked on the door, said 'Am I fit for the audition?' He looks at me from top to bottom. That room was big and had some 5,000 boys in it, all Gladrags models. I was like saare handsome ladke aaj yahin hai? And then he looked at me from top to bottom and he's like, 'Deo ki ad hai.' So that was an indication that I wasn't fit. Par mana toh nahi kiya tha aur mein bhi besharam so I said, 'Sir am I fit for the audition?' And then he's like, 'Chal theek hai, aaja. Tujhe pata lag jaayega, what I meant by that.' I went in and obviously it was that typical 'remove your t-shirt, girls falling on you' type of audition. It was actually that – ki bathroom ki ceiling phategi tumhare upar se aur ladkiyaan giregi. So I gave that audition – lanky fellow, bare-bodied – but that stayed in my head, that scan of his eyes from top to bottom. And this year there's this deo brand that came my way and I was like, 'Paise chhodo, sabko chhodo, mein yeh kar raha hoon'. I wanted that loop to have its closure.

Editor's Note: This article is in partnership with Idea. To know more about our advertorial and branded content, click here