‘Acting Is Such A Rich Man’s Business Now’

‘It’s
no
more
just
art
and
skills,
it’s
a
business.’

After
a
bumpy
beginning,

Avinash
Tiwary‘s
career
took
off
as
he
positioned
himself
as
dependable
actor
on
OTT.

As
he
wows
everyone
through
yet
another
impactful
performance
in

The
Mehta
Boys,
Avinash
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com,
“Five
days
you
feel
amazing
and
the
next
10
days
you
feel
like
what
the
hell?
Then
five
days
again,
you
feel
amazing.
That’s
been
a
part
of
my
life
forever.”

The
last
couple
of
years
brought
in
a
revival
in
your
career.
Do
you
see
yourself
in
a
better
space
now?

I
don’t
know
what
better
space
is.

I
feel
more
confident
about
my
work
because
I’ve
been
doing
it
for
some
time.

I
feel
more
confident
about
my
craft,
my
skill.

The
rest,
I
don’t
know,

yaar.

Five
days
you
feel
amazing
and
the
next
10
days
you
feel
like
what
the
hell?
Then
five
days
again,
you
feel
amazing.
That’s
been
a
part
of
my
life
forever.

But
I
definitely
feel
that
I
can
stand
my
ground
and
that’s
what
drives
me.

I
feel
I
am
driven
by
a
vision
that
is
bigger
than
just
myself
and
that
excites
me.

You
have
an
interesting
career
trajectory.
What
gave
a
19-year-old
yourself
that
confidence
to
quit
education
and
try
out
films?

I
wish
I
knew
that.

Sometimes
I
turn
back
and
think
that
maybe
it
was
just
plain
stupidity.

I
had
confidence
that
I
will
do
something
out
of
my
life.
This
strong
belief
comes
from
your
conditioning
and
people
around
you,
and
how
they
have
made
you
feel
in
life.

The
worst
case
is
survival,
right?
Back
in
2003-2004,
there
were
so
many
channels.
I
told
myself
I
am
not
so
bad
that
I
won’t
find
any
work.
I
knew
something
will
work
out.

That
just
made
me
go
on
and
make
it.
I
told
myself
that
I
will
take
care
of
survival,
now
I
should
just
look
for
excellence.

Do
your
parents
watch
your
films?
Are
they
critical
of
your
work?

Absolutely.
They
are
so
invested
in
me,
I
can’t
tell
you.

They
know
everything
that
is
happening
in
my
life
and
things
that
I
don’t
want
them
to
know
also.

They
are
part
of
all
the
fan
clubs.
They
follow
all
of
them.
They
just
get
so
happy.

Obviously,
it
makes
me
happy
to
see
them
happy,
but
also
slightly
embarrassed
with
how
they
react
to
things.

My
father
has
been
very
critical
of
my
work.
He
also
compliments
me
a
lot.
He
will
be
the
first
person
to
come
and
hug
me.

I
work
doubly
hard
if
he
doesn’t
like
something.

He’s
also
someone
I’ve
shared
my
scripts
with.

He
tells
me
this
is
where
we
should
look.
But
criticism
is
mostly
related
to
vanity,
where
he
desires
his
son
to
be,
in
a
certain
way.

I
choose
parts
which
are
all
kinds.

I
think
Majnu
(in
Laila
Majnu)
is
larger-than-life
in
every
way. 

I
think
Chandan
Mahto
(Khakee)
is
a
larger-than-life
character.

Dara
Kadri
from

Bambai
Meri
Jaan
is
a
larger-than-life
character.

They
all
lack
vanity
but
as
a
father,
he
would
probably
want
to
see
me
best
looking
all
the
time.

For
example,
he
was
pretty
happy
to
see
me
in

Madgaon
Express.

This
is
also
a
problem
I
face
professionally
because
since
I’ve
done
all
these
parts,
people
don’t
really
know
what
I
look
like
in
person.

I
understand
why
actors
tend
to
play
something
again
and
again
because
it
becomes
easier
for
the
audience
to
relate
to
the
person
and
that
creates
their
brand.

But
I
thought
of
myself
as
an
actor
who’s
supposed
to
do
parts.
That’s
what
I
trained
myself
for.

What’s
the
one
personal
performance
that
you
feel
deserves
more
love?

Tu
Hai
Mera
Sunday.

I
feel
it’s
a
very
good
film.
It
has
some
amazing
performances
and
just
everything
that
works
for
a
good
film.
It’s
something
that
I
would
want
the
world
to
see.

Also,

Bambai
Meri
Jaan
is
very
close
to
me.

I’ve
put
in
a
lot
of
hard
work
into
it.
It
took
four
years
of
my
life.
I
didn’t
do
anything
else
in
the
last
six
months
of
the
four
years;
I
devoted
all
of
it
to
that
show.

And
I
know
not
many
have
seen
it.

That
show
is
absolutely
brilliant!

It’s
one
of
my
better
performances.

It’s
been
more
than
10
years
for
you
in
the
industry.
Is
there
something

about
your
profession
that
you
still
find
challenging?

Everything
associated
with
the
job,
apart
from
acting,
is
challenging
for
me.

If
you
have
10
events
in
a
month,
just
choosing
what
clothes
to
wear
is
so
much
of
a
headache.

You
have
a
team
who
will
have
to
do
that
and
the
team
can
get
swayed
by
what
is
going
around.
You
want
to
maintain
your
own
kind
of
originality.

To
maintain
that
persona,
imagery
and
optics
of
this
profession,
which
is
driven
so
much
by
money,
and
it’s
such
a
rich
man’s
business
now.

It’s
no
more
just
art
and
skills,
it’s
a
business.

I
find
those
things
challenging.

And
what’s
the
most
rewarding
thing
an
an
actor?

The
love
that
we
receive.

Just
for

Mehta
Boys,
the
amount
of
messages,
the
love
that’s
flowing,
people
thanking
you
and
saying,
‘I
know
you
would
have
taken
on
something
else
but
you
chose
to
do
a
film
like
this.
Thank
you
so
much
for
creating
this
feeling
and
the
warmth.’

You
feel
that
you’re
able
to
affect
people
and
heal
something
for
them.
It
is
a
special
feeling.

Jaise
duaayein
mil
rahi
hain.
There
is
nothing
more
valuable
than
that.