According to a report by the Hindustan Times, Patani said in an interview, “Funnily, it was never my dream to become an actor. I wanted to be an Air Force pilot and was pursuing engineering. During college in Lucknow, one of my friends told me about a modelling contest that took all the winners to Mumbai. And who didn’t want to travel to Mumbai? I applied and ended up winning (in 2013)… From there, I was spotted by an agency, but since I couldn’t fulfil my college’s minimum attendance requirement while modelling, I decided to continue walking the ramp... It allowed me to be independent, earn for myself, and not rely on my family.”