Avinash Tiwary recalls his challenging days as an actor

After 15 years of struggle, Avinash Tiwary landed his breakout film, ‘Laila Majnu’, on which he worked hard for three years. Produced by Imtiaz Ali, the film bombed upon release. 10 days later, he found himself bedridden after an accident. In many ways, it was Avinash Tiwary’s ‘ye dukh kaahe nahi khatam hota’ moment, where challenges kept mounting for the actor.

In an interview with ‘Humans of Bombay’, Avinash spoke about his journey and revealed how thrilled he was when he came on board to headline ‘Laila Majnu’ and how everything came crashing down when the film didn’t work.

“ ‘Laila Majnu’ is such a great folklore of our country and I have this memory of the third day of release, when the posters were being pulled down. I had given three years to that film and I didn’t know how I should take it. After three years of hard work with these people, the film disappeared on the third day. So, what else will I say to myself? There was no end to this. But all that I have today is because of the credibility that I started earning from ‘Laila Majnu’,” he said.

Though not a commercial success, ‘Laila Majnu’ has developed a cult following, which Avinash says he is aware of. “It didn’t reach heights, but it slowly kept getting deeper,” he added.

The failure of the film was followed by people commenting on his lack of a stable career. “ ‘Laila Majnu’ was pulled out of theatres in three days and then 10 days later, I had an accident and I was in bed for a month. I thought this was just not ending for me! I remember my dad telling me, ‘I don’t know what the future will hold, but from what I have seen in the film, I know my son is worth something.’ It took me 15 years to get a breakthrough and it’s my parents who had to answer to people a lot.”

“‘What is your son doing? We can’t see him anywhere in the movies’. But my father said that was a huge validation for me. I was really low at that point, but his words helped me get back up and ready.”

The actor will be next seen in the Kunal Kemmu-directed comedy ‘Madgaon Express’.