Randeep Hooda opened up about his struggle with depression.
Randeep Hooda is currently creating a buzz on social media with his directorial debut, ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar,’ which is based on the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The actor has garnered praise for his portrayal and transformation in the film. But the journey till here wasn’t easy at all for him.
In a recent interview with Humans of Bombay, the actor revealed that out of 23 years of working in the industry, 11 years that he had spent were not on the sets. “Many times, I’ve had zero money, and I didn’t know what I would do next. There were times when I sold everything in my house, my car, my microwave, everything. But I never sold my horses,” he stated, adding, “There is an Arabic saying, ‘Tankhwa badhao, kharcha kam karne se kuch nahi hoga (Increase your income, nothing will change if you reduce your expenses).’”
Despite setbacks such as an incomplete film after extensive preparation, he emphasized the importance of mental resilience. “Mental stamina comes from the fact that what else is there. Going through movies like ‘The Battle of Saragarhi’ where I had grown a full Sikh beard for three years, prepped for ‘Gatka’ and that movie didn’t get completed,” the ‘Highway’ actor said.
He added, “That was a very low time for me and I was very depressed. For three years, I had no work and it was a struggle. It was like life chopped in half because I had to leave that.” This period nearly led him to depart from the film ‘Extraction.’
Irrespective of weight gain, and no work, the actor told himself to take ‘one-step at a time.’ His parents, expressing concern, urged him not to repeat his past actions. But then, he added, “I did it again in Veer Savarkar’s biopic.”
Randeep Hooda plays the titular character in the newly released film. ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’ also stars Ankita Lokhande, Amit Sial, Apinderdeep Singh, Mark Bennington, and many others. The film is available to watch in theatres in Hindi and Marathi.