Baaghi 2 star Disha Patani on her days of struggle: I had ₹500 when I had come to Mumbai

From times full of struggle and rejections, to now, starring as the female lead in Baaghi 2 that’s being touted as the year’s biggest opener at the box office, Disha Patani has come a long way. The actor is, of course, proud of her success story, but says that the trying times have taught her to be “super careful” with her career choices.

“I’m not from a filmi background, so I don’t know if my films will always work and if people will give me another chance. So, I’ve to be super careful. I love acting and I want to keep getting the chance to perform,” says Disha, who believes in learning a lesson, even from rejections. There have been “so many of them”, she recalls. “A film was supposed to start and they replaced me with someone else. That was my launch film. But everything happens for a reason. I learned early that rejections make you stronger. Each time you feel there’s something missing in you, you get that motivation to work harder.”

The actor’s mantra all along was to keep moving forward. “I’m a very positive person. Maybe I was not prepared [at that time]. Also, I left my studies and I came to Mumbai. For a college girl to come to a new city not knowing anyone wasn’t easy. I was living alone, making my own money and never asked my family [for money]. I came to Mumbai with ₹500 and after a point, I didn’t have any money. I used to go for a lot of auditions, mostly for TV commercials, as there was this constant pressure on me that if I don’t get a job this month, how I will pay my rent. Everything I did was a job until I started to enjoy acting,” she says, adding that she didn’t have any friends at that time. “My life was [like]: work, come home and sleep! I’d get so bored if I wasn’t working and I’d think what am I doing in my life.”

Disha made her Hindi film debut with MS Dhoni: The Untold Story in 2016, following it up with an Indo-Chinese film, Kung Fu Yoga, the next year. Baaghi 2, alongside rumoured beau, actor Tiger Shroff, is her second big film. The actor admits she was waiting for something that’ll help her “improve her acting skills and people’s perspective” about how they look at her. “I want them to see me as an actor.”

Starring in the sequel, did Disha feel any pressure to match up to the first film that featured Shraddha Kapoor alongside Tiger? “Since I was not in first part, I didn’t have that pressure or apprehension. I think Tiger would have more because he has done the first part. For me, this was a fresh script and I was always very confident while shooting,” she says.

Rumours have been doing the rounds that Disha is upset with Tiger for stealing all the limelight. Is that true, we ask. “Even I got a message from someone [about this] and I told my manager to reply. Don’t know who wrote this. I’ve been promoting [the film] with him (Tiger) everywhere, so I don’t see a reason why I would complain,” she signs off.

Interact with Monika Rawal Kukreja at Twitter/@monikarawal