Bollywood might seem like a great place to fulfill dreams, but for the ones who come to fulfill their dreams, the road is not an easy one. Graduates from top film schools and institutes in the country can barely make a living. Take Ishtiyak Khan for example. Known for roles in films like Ranbir Kapoor’s Tamasha, where he plays the autorickshaw driver with dreams of being a singer, and Salman Khan’s film Bharat, Ishtiyak Khan has even taught acting to aspiring actors after graduating from the National School of Drama.
With such great feats in his career, he once sold eggs near where he taught acting.
During an interview with Hindi Rush, he recalled, “In the evenings, a few of us would set up an egg stall. I would also accept contracts for college plays, setting up music and dance performances. One day, one of my students showed up at my stall. He was shocked to see his ‘sir’ selling eggs. I was mortified. I didn’t know how I could show my face at the school. The kids respected me. I skipped the next day. Then the kid showed up again, this time with his father. They came on a scooter. He told his dad, ‘He’s our teacher’. The dad looked at me, but didn’t say anything. One of my seniors then told me not to be ashamed about it. ‘You aren’t stealing, are you? Then why are you ashamed?’”
“All my friends knew that I have no money. Not once did they ask me to pay for tea. My friend’s bicycle was as good as my own, because I didn’t have one. Same with my friend’s scooter. They never made me feel as if I didn’t have a right over it. I learned to be a good person because of the environment I grew up in. Had I grown up around hatred, perhaps I wouldn’t have been a nice person,” he added.
When he moved to Mumbai from his hometown, it was a culture shock for him. “I was friends with everybody, from the rich kids to the ones that people wouldn’t interact with at all… In Mumbai, some people wouldn’t lease out houses to Dalits and Muslims… It was a huge culture shock for me,” he recounted.
At present, Ishtiyak Khan has films like Tees Maar Khan, Maidaan, and Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video in his repertoire.