Vivaan Shah: I wish I had listened to my parents’ advise and not chased stardom and success

Vivaan Shah started his career with smaller roles in big multi-starrers such as 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), Happy New Year (2014) and Bombay Velvet (2015). But looking back, the actor, who is the younger son of Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, says he admits that he took the wrong decision in the initial phase of his career.

His career has seen a slow growth ever since and he tells us, “If I were to give a piece of advice to any actor who is facing a similar predicament as my own, I would say that look at my case. I made the mistake in my career very early on chasing after stardom and success. I started off in this business thinking I am here to be a star. Somewhere along the way I realised that ‘no I am an actor and that is a very important thing.”

Talking about whether his parents think of his journey so far, he says, “I wish I had listened to their advise. They never bought into this business of stardom and that you have to be certain way and this constitutes success and this does not constitute success. Now the problem is that the time when I started in 2010 was a very different climate in the industry. My peers and my friends were filling my head with all kinds of idiotic advice that I must be like this to be a star or leading man. My parents told me not to listen to the bullsh**t. But I as a young, stupid and immature person did not listen to them. Hence rather than trying to evolve as an actor and do projects where I could prove myself as an actor, I had the greed to become a successful star and leading man. Ultimately that has been to my detriment. I wish that I had followed my parents’ advice.”

Vivaan says that he feels fortunate to have done the big films that he did because it gave people a chance to see him.

“The thing is that the projects of mine which people are familiar with are the ones with big people. Every actor does not get to work with big people all the time. But for the last 6 to 7 years with the exception of A Suitable Boy, the stuff that I have done has not reached an audience,” he says.

But the 32-year-old is quick to adds that it does not mean that he has not been working. “I have been constantly employed in the 12 years that I have been in the business. I am still working hard, developing my craft and evolving as an actor. It is just that an actor has to adopt sufistic, zen-like approach to this. It is a whirlwind of emotions, whirlwind of disappointments. I hope that people get to see more of me,” he says ,adding that the web space is giving him those opportunities.

Sharing the instance of his latest web series, Sutliyan, he says, “It was a wonderful shoot. On top of that it was artistically gratifying. It is a rare instance that we worked hard and we all had a wonderful time as well. I am happy and proud of the work that I have done,” he ends.