'I Just Like To Stay Away From Toxic Attention'

This man has been in the eye of the storm too many times. Twinkle Dedhia catches up with the self-confessed controversy king ADITYA PANCHOLI to find out more about where he went wrong in his career, the controversies in his life and his son Sooraj.

- Aditya Pancholi

How did you become an actor?

I never planned to be an actor. I initially aspired to join the Indian Navy. However, one day, I was travelling in a train with my friends - I was 18 years old then and a gentle-man called Mr. Bali approached me in the compartment and asked, “Would you like to become an actor?” I thought the man was playing a prank however, after a while the conversation took a solemn turn. That’s when I curiously asked, “Will I get paid for this opportunity?” He said ‘Yes!’ I forgot about it but in a few days, I got a call from Mr. Bali - he had scheduled a meeting with producer-director Bhappi Soni. Things after that escalated from there eventually in a blink.

At that time, I didn’t own any fancy clothes or shoes so I remember borrowing things from my friends for the audition. And there was Mr. Bhappi with a charming but strong personality. He saw me and declared, “Thik hai! Ab tum humare picture ke hero ho gaye.” He directly handed a cheque of Rs.5,000 to me. I didn’t even have a bank account at that point of time. When I told my parents about it, they were dazed and kept asking me for some confirmation. But my mind was gripped by try karne main kya jata hai. Anyways, I was too young to figure things out or what I wanted to do in life. I thought okay, since I was getting paid, I’ll do it and if I am successful in acting, I would continue.

I had no filmi background or had anyone even closely related to this industry. Gradually, I learnt everything after I was thrown in the midst of it. Initially it was tough because which normal kid knows how to dance, ride a horse, body postures etc. But I learnt at the cost of my producers. So I started as a blank slate which got filled with experiences with each day.