'There were days I didn't want to probably live'

Actor Adhyayan Suman hopes that the ‘dark phase’ of his career will end with ‘Heeramandi’

-  RAVI BANSAL

There were days he broke down, days he wanted to just give up and run away from home, recalled actor Adhyayan Suman about the ‘dark phase’ of his career that he hopes will end with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’.

As he contemplated the highs and lows of his life, Adhyayan said that he took inspiration from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan.

“You look at Amitabh Bachchan, starting from the beginning and going absolutely down under and then again becoming a superstar, so if you don’t learn from that, then what do you learn from? So, I learned from that and this is where I stand today,” the 36-year-old told PTI.

The son of seasoned actor Shekhar Suman, Adhyayan debuted as a lead actor in 2008 with ‘Haal-e-Dil’ and followed up with performances in ‘Raaz: The Mystery Continues’ and ‘Jashnn’, which was released in 2009. After that followed a prolonged slump where he appeared only sporadically in films. In fact, he made headlines for his personal life, especially his tumultuous relationship with actor Kangana Ranaut.

The 15 years from 2009 to 2024 were tough, Adhyayan said.

“There were days when I broke down. There were days I wanted to give up and change my profession. There were days when I didn’t want to probably live or be here - I don’t know - just run away from home. There were answers I was looking for but wasn’t getting any, like, ‘Why me and why is it happening?’ I don’t think anyone can answer that,” he said.