Mumbai: Aadil Jaipuri, grandson of legendary lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri, who started his career as a child artist with films such as Laawaris and Hadh, along with television shows including Zindagi Teri Meri Kahaani and Ssshh Koi Hai, and was seen in short film Pind Daan, doesn’t hold back when it comes to the stigma actors carry around asking for work. He believes that it’s their ego that keeps talented people stuck on the sidelines.
Asked whether ego holds actors back from actively pursuing opportunities, his answer is blunt. “Massively. I’ve seen actors, talented ones, better than me on a good day, sit at home because ‘log kya kahenge’ if I message a casting director directly,” he said.
He credits a lesson from his training under Saurabh Sachdeva for shaping how he sees the two sides of the profession. “I trained under Saurabh Sachdeva sir, and one thing he drilled into us is that the craft and the hustle are two different muscles. You can’t skip leg day on either. Ego tells you that asking makes you look desperate. Reality is, everyone’s asking. The ones who pretend they’re not usually have a PR team doing it for them,” he said.
Aadil feels it is important for actors today to reach out rather than simply wait for opportunities. “I’ve flown airplanes too, and I promise you air traffic control doesn’t wait for you to feel confident before clearing you for landing. You communicate constantly and clearly, or you don’t get anywhere. Acting’s the same. Waiting for your ‘big break’ to knock on your door is a great way to grow old in your parents’ guest room,” he said.
On whether talent or networking matters more today, he sees the two as serving very different purposes. “Talent gets you in the room. It doesn’t get you the room. I know actors who could outact half of Bollywood, and nobody’s heard of them because they never learned to walk into a space and make themselves memorable for the right reasons. And I know some very ‘meh’ performers who are booked because people enjoy being around them,” he said.
He also mentioned that hierarchy within the industry still makes actors hesitant to speak up: “The industry runs on an unspoken pecking order. Who your last director was, whose son you are, and which building your gym is in. It’s dumb, but it’s real. I come from a family with a legacy; my grandfather, Hasrat Jaipuri, wrote some of the most iconic lyrics this industry has ever heard, and even that doesn’t buy you a free pass to skip the line without people whispering,” he said.
Finally, asked what he’d tell actors who feel embarrassed about putting themselves out there, he offers a no-nonsense reality check. “Get over yourself, kindly. Nobody’s watching you as closely as you think they are. You send a message; worst case, someone doesn’t reply. That’s the whole risk. I post my face doing questionable things on Reels every week for strangers on the internet to judge. Trust me, rejection from one casting director is nothing compared to that,” Aadil said.
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