Vijay Raaz says ‘there wasn’t enough to eat’, but declines to describe it as a ‘struggle’: ‘If you want to be an actor…’

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Vijay continued, “I see this as a privilege. How can this be a struggle?” Asked if he sees being strapped for cash as a struggle, Vijay said, “That’s a phase. Life is a struggle. Your desires are a struggle. You have a bicycle but you want a car… I don’t believe in these things.” Vijay said that to him, success has a different meaning than how others might perceive it. “Society would normally equate success with how many houses one has, or cars, or how reputed they are. To me, if you are not at peace, you are unsuccessful, regardless of where you stand. If your are at peace, you are successful, even if you haven’t achieved anything in society’s eyes,” he said.

Vijay admitted that there were days when he didn’t have food to eat, but he didn’t mind it. “Jab khaane ko utna nahi hota tha, main tab bhi mauj mein tha. Main bhawishya ko itna dekhta nahi hoon, main utna kaabil nahi hoon. Shayad isliye main utni bechaini ikkatthi nahi kar paata (Even when I didn’t have enough to eat, I was enjoying life. I don’t bother too much about the future, and that’s perhaps why I’m not anxious about it),” he said.

Vijay broke out with a supporting role in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, and has made a name for himself as one of the most talented actors of his generation in Hindi cinema. He has delivered acclaimed performances in projects such as Delhi Belly, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Raghu Romeo, Made in Heaven, and more. He was most recently seen in Murder in Mahim.