Atul Kulkarni: I never had to struggle much for work

Actor Atul Kulkarni believes its surreal that he has not only survived through the highs and lows of the industry but also never gone out of work in the last 25 years Kulkarni said though he has battled his phase of uncertainty and survival in the industry he has been blessed with a consistent flow of workThe actor who grew up in Solapur and moved to Mumbai in the mid90s first garnered praise as Mahatma Gandhi in the play Gandhi Viruddha Gandhi which caught the eye of actorfilmmaker Kamal Haasan who cast him in his 2000 drama Hey RamI was extremely lucky because I got my first professional play within three months of landing in Mumbai I did that in three languages Kamal ji heard about the play and called me for Hey Ram Thats how I got my first film I actually didnt have to struggle that much to get work There are phases in every actors life but my phases have been few and for a short period where I did worry about uncertainty and survival But it never really reached an extreme stage the actor told PTI in an interviewKulkarni established himself as a bankable performer with films such as Rang De Basanti Chandni Bar and Marathi drama Natarang among others Survival was a question that Kulkarni grappled with before he entered the film industry When he graduated from the National School of Drama in 1995 Kulkarni said he was clueless how his acting journey would pan out The film industry looked like a distant dream and TV was yet to boomAlso Read Akshay Kumarstarrer Bellbottom to hit the silver screen in 3DSurvival was on my mind not only when I came to the industry but also when I went to NSD I had no idea what I would do after passing out from college The only accessibility I had was Marathi professional theatre I had never ever thought of films because it was absolutely inaccessible to me TV was not much at that time there were no daily soaps All of us had fewer chancesWhat kept Kulkarni going was his passion for the job The 55yearold actor said he was drawn to acting after he participated in a oneact play in his college in Solapur At a young age he figured all he wanted to do was act not as a hobby but as a profession When I started doing amateur theatre and acting I liked what I was doing My only motivation was to spend more time acting I didnt want to do a job and act in my spare time I wanted to act 24 hours I am fortunate I was able to do this for the last 25 yearsOver the years Kulkarni has worked in Hindi Marathi Tamil Telugu Malayalam and Kannada films featuring in nearly 100 movies His learning from the industry is that one doesnt require any external motivation to actYou are born with it and then try to learn the technique of the craft which you slowly start enjoying One doesnt need external motivation but what one does need is sustainability in the field Can you sustain with pleasure Thats important to know It is not easy There are very few lucky ones who get to do only what they want Survival is extremely important Its futile and wrong to only think about artThe actor is currently seen on the second season of Disney Hostar show City of Dreams The Nagesh Kukunoordirected political drama series which premiered on July 30 saw Kulkarni reprise his character of a polarising political figure Ameya Rao Gaikwad The actor said the team was conscious to give their best as they were riding on the tremendous success of season oneAll the seeds were sown in the first season Even before the first season was shot Nagesh and the team were sure about how they wanted to approach the show the conflict they wanted to introduce My character who was once a lion is now an underdog The show is about politics but has a deep emotional layer to itSeason one of City of Dreams was Kulkarnis first major OTT show in 2019 He has since featured on another hit series Bandish BanditsKulkarni said his endeavour is to constantly adapt to changing storytelling landscapes and moving from one medium to another There are efforts but when you see people like Amitabh Bachchan and if that person can adapt so much we are nothing The kind of eras he has seen and adapted it would be a shame if we dont adapt he addedAlso Read FOMO keeps Karan Johar from turning Bigg Boss contestantThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever