Actor Abhay Verma had a breakthrough with horror comedy Munjya earlier this year. The sleeper hit starred the newcomer in the lead role and helped him get noticed by the audience. While the young actor has managed to get his foot inside the door in Bollywood at an early age, it hasn’t been an easy journey for him. In a viral video from an interview from June this year, Abhay speaks about how a casting couch experience forced him to leave film world and return to his hometown.
Abhay Verma’s casting couch experience
In an interview with India Today, Abhay Verma spoke, among other things, about how difficult it is for young actors to gain a foothold. The 26-year-old recounted, “A boy coming with all his dreams, all his passion, his naiveness (naivety), I would like to say that. And imagine a person in the first meeting itself, you get the feeling that this person is not interested in your work but is interested in taking something out of you or is putting you in a compromising position.”
Abhay added that the meeting with the unnamed industry insider made him so uncomfortable and traumatised that he packed his bags and returned to his hometown Panipat. “The first meeting was a major setback which made me go back to my hometown. The principles and rules that you have, the identity that you have, you shouldn’t compromise any of those things for anyone, nobody in the world,” he added.
Abhay Verma’s career
In the end, the actor did return to Mumbai and began auditioning again. He got a small part in Super 30 in 2018 before doing supporting roles in films like Safed and TV shows Little Things and Marzi. He was first noticed in a negative role in The Family Man before getting his big break this year with Ae Watan Mere Watan and Munjya.