08 December,2021 03:43 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Sham Kaushal with wife/picture courtesy: Yogen Shah
Vicky Kaushal-Katrina Kaif's wedding ceremony has been the talk of the town. But, have you ever wondered how this A-lister's father, who had no contacts in the industry, entered the world of showbiz? Well, the struggle for Sham Kaushal is real, and his story is extremely inspiring. In an interview with Mayank Shekhar, Vicky's father, a popular stunt-director, shared his journey from being a salesman to a stunt-man.
When asked what made him come to Mumbai, and how he went from being a sales manager, to becoming a stuntman in Bollywood, Sham Kaushal quipped, "When I was living in my village, I pursued MA in English Literature without any tuitions. I was not even aware that morning when I was leaving for Bombay. I was just saying bye to my friend and I got all emotional about him leaving, and me not having a job for almost a year despite having a degree. Back then, I did not wish to join my dad's grand store. I also thought twice before doing the labour work there and I knew I wouldn't be hesitant doing any kind of job in this city."
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He further added, "I never had thought about entering Bollywood when I was leaving for Mumbai. After getting down at Dadar station, 20 days later, I got a job. I used to earn Rs 350, and after my rent and travel allowances, I had Re 1 for lunch and Re 1 for my dinner. And, I never thought after all these struggles anything else would happen, but I have always believed in destiny and had faith in God. I believe one should always do their job and things will fall in place. I was hardworking when I was young. I cycled to my college, I started learning English at a very young age while I was staying in a village. I also topped in my college."
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It did not stop there! His struggle to survive in Mumbai wasn't a cakewalk. Sham Kaushal realised he is meant to do better things. "After working for almost a year, I realised I have an inferiority complex to people I don't know. As I came to Mumbai from a village, my communication became a huge barrier for my job. I just resigned, and I had no money to even return to my village. But I was sure I did not wish to go back and I did not want to do a job. I just decided to stay here, even if I die."
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Sham Kaushal further mentioned, "After a while, God only created certain scenarios where I was pushed into all this. Some stuntmen, who were good friends with me, encouraged me to become a stuntman when the membership window opened just after 3-4 months into my resignation. I thought, why not? Working for 2-4 days a week will give me money, and my daily incentives would be sorted, and I knew nothing about this job."
"One fine day, I met Veeru Devgan, Ajay Devgn's father, and he was the number one fight director at that time, and I needed a signature as a reference to be the stunt member. I pleaded him to sign the form and he said why do you want to do this when you have an MA degree. I said that I don't wish to do a job, I just want to do this. He was convinced and finally signed the form and this is how I became a stunt director," concluded Vicky Kaushal's father.
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