Actor Harshvardhan Rane worked at an Internet cafe to support himself when he ran away from home in pursuit of his dream of acting. In a conversation with Shrabasti Mallik, he explains how he convinced the makers of Sanam Teri Kasam to cast him as the lead and how he admires John Abraham
Only people with a lot faith and conviction in themselves have the guts to leave everything behind to follow their dreams. Harshvardhan Rane wanted to be an actor so badly that he ran away from home and came to Delhi. For years he struggled to do the work he loved and, has finally cracked into Bollywood with Sanam Teri Kasam.
“I had to feed myself and for that I required money and for that, I needed a job. I worked as a book recorder at an STD booth for `10. One day a guy noticed me and said, ‘You have a nice handwriting. Why don’t you come and work at my Internet cafeIJ’ The offer was good because he paid me `20 per day because then I could buy a pouch of shampoo every now and then,” the actor laughed as he reminisced about those frugal days.
But nothing lasts forever, rightIJ Similarly Rane overcame that lean phase with the help of a friend who encouraged him to pursue his dreams. “luckily, all my life I have come across positive people who have pushed me forward,” he said.
The 32-year-old actor, apart from charming good looks, is witty and humble. One could not miss the passion in his voice as he spoke about his role in Sanam Teri Kasam. “It was a role I wanted to do. In all the movies that I have done before, I have never played a conventional role but this was one that I just had to do. There was a voice inside me, telling me to do it and when you receive that call from within, you know that its from your heart,” he said. We realised that the character meant more to him than one could comprehend, so we let him continue, “He was exactly like my father, who is no more, — he appears raw and tough on the outside but once you get to know him, you will find that he is a gem of a guy. He did not get by the norms of the society, either.”
Rane’s first tryst with the entertainment industry was playing a character in the television show left Right left, after which he moved to Hyderabad. “I did eight to nine films in the South,” he pointed out. It was then that he got a call from John Abraham’s office and was offered a role in the movie Satra Ko Shaadi Hai, which he accepted. It so happened that he received the script of Saman Teri Kasam but could not commit to the dates because of his engagements in Abraham’s film.
“By the time I went to the directors, the casting was already complete and they were to go on the floors in a few days. I had a very small window of opportunity to convince them otherwise. It was a desperate attempt and I remember telling them, ‘This is my role. You cannot take it away from me.’ It was tough but I did that in two days,” he said.
He is not the first actor to have worked in both Tollywood and Bollywood, and he certainly will not be the last. But considering the fact that this is his debut Bollywood performance, does he find any similarity or difference between the twoIJ Rane told us, “The passion is similar. The manner of storytelling is also same to a huge extent but Baahubali did change the way a film is picturised. If you had asked me this five years ago, my answer would have been completely different. Today there is so much of exchange happening all around that nothing ceases to be different.”
But that still does not change the fact that he has worked with John Abraham, and the actor could not stop praising him. Self-made people inspire him and he was, and still is, in awe of Abraham. “It happens to be one of the best memories of my life. I have seen how he has grown — from a model, to an actor and finally a producer. And when your first production is a movie like Vicky Donor — it says a lot about who you are as a person. Then he produced and acted in Madras Cafe. The kind of work you choose to do also says a lot about you,” he said.
Sanam Teri Kasam is the first of the many movies that he’ll be doing in Bollywood and we felt the excitement in his voice as he spoke of all the directors he wants to work with. “Sanjay leela Bhansali — I would love to work with. I want to work with people who are passionate about cinema, who have vision and can work hard,” he concluded.