Meet actor who worked at tea stall for Rs 100 per day; played young Shah Rukh Khan and went on to win an Oscar nomination
Winning an Oscar nomination as a fresh face is not a small thing but this actor made it possible. He started his career by playing young Shah Rukh Khan and is one of the unexplored talents today.
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A guy from Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur got his movie nominated at the Academy Awards just sounds unreal but is someone’s reality. We leave you to guess this fabulous star who began his career by playing the young Shah Rukh Khan in the 2010 film My Name is Khan and then did some of those movies that emerged as critic favorites and fans too. Were you able to guess by now?
Let us tell you, today we are talking about actor Adarsh Gourav. The 30-year-old following his stint in SRK’s movie starred in the English anthology Madly (2016), and the 2017 classics Rukh and Mom before eventually bagging the film that changed his fate. In 2021, Adarsh played the character of Balram Halwai in The White Tiger, the movie that was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 93rd Academy Awards.
It was during this film only that Adarsh worked for Rs 100 per day at a tea stall in order to prepare for his character. While speaking to Vogue once, Adarsh revealed that he visited a village named Chalkari Basti in Jharkhand to get comfortable with that setting and observe the world he didn’t see on usual days. He then took up at a tea stall in Delhi’s Saket after disguising in his character.
He told Mail Today, “I would dress as Balram and keep my hair and beard very unkempt. I didn't take a bath for weeks. I would earn Rs 100 per day for cleaning plates and serving people. I absolutely hated that experience.” On one of the days when Adarsh was walking back to his hotel, a man asked him to shift bags and gave him Rs 20 for the same and all these moments prepped him well for his career-defining character.
The White Tiger also starring Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao won Adarsh several other nominations including the AACTA International Award for Best Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
Adarsh Gourav then starred in titles like Guns & Gulaabs, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, Wo Bhi Din The, and Hostel Daze. He will be soon seen in Superboys of Malegaon which is directed by Reema Kagti. The film is set to see a grand premiere in the Gala section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on September 13.
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