The super star remembers seeing the biggest rats while spending nights sleeping on Marine Drive
Agencies
BOLLYWOOD: Many famous actors in Bollywood went through very hard times when they first landed as unknown entities in the Indian entertainment capital.
Anupam Kher once said he came to Mumbai with just Rs 3t and slept rough at the Mumbai railway stations.
Even the super star Amitabh Bachchan also slept rough on Marine Drive during his early days in Bollywood.
Amitabh once said in an interview with journalist Vir Sanghvi that he was so focussed on becoming a hero in Bollywood that he refused to entertain any other thoughts.
He said he came to Mumbai only with a driver’s licence thinking that if he didn’t succeed in becoming an actor he would drive cabs.
“I came to Bombay with a driving licence, and that’s about it. It said if I don’t become an actor, I will drive a cab,” he said. “The whole intention was to act,” he said.
He then recalled how he slept for some nights on the benches of Marine Drive and saw the biggest rats in his life there.
“I didn’t have a place to stay. You know there is a limited amount of time you can spend with friends because you’re barging into their house. So I spent a couple of days on Marine Drive benches with some of the largest rats I have seen in my life,” Amitabh remembered.
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The Big B, who quit his Rs 50 monthly radio job in Kolkata to come to Mumbai to try his luck in Bollywood, recalled how he refused to do ads worth even Rs 10,000 in his early days because he wanted to stay focussed on becoming an actor.
“Ad agencies approached me. I was offered Rs 10,000 for an ad, which was huge money since I was earning Rs 50 a month doing radio spots. But I felt doing an ad would take something away from me and I just resisted the temptation,” the super star recalled.
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