I Am a Failed Sportsperson: Aparshakti Khurana

Aparshakti on how he went from being a cricketer, to lawyer, to RJ and now an actor.

Aparshakti Khurana talks about how he went from being a cricketer, to lawyer, to RJ and now an actor. 

(Photo: The Quint/Kamran Akhter)

In past few years, Aparshakti Khurana has played some memorable roles. It all started with Dangal in 2015 post which he did Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Stree and Luka Chuppi. We caught up with Apartshakti Khurana and found out how he went through being a cricketer, lawyer and RJ before he became an actor and moved to Mumbai.

When did you decide that you want to be an actor?

I always wanted to be a sportsperson. And I was watching my brother do all these really cool things and I will not lie that I got inspired by his performances, you know, on the music front, on the radio front. It was extremely mature on his part to tell me that if you just come and start working you will also fall into the ambit of nepotism. He said you’ll get opportunities that won’t be a problem, but you need to prepare yourself really well.

So that’s one of the main reason why Saat Uchakkey – my first film – and Dangal, my second film... Another film I did actually, it was called Babbu Ki Jawani, which never released. All these three films happened when I was staying in Delhi.

So you were doing theatre in college?

No, I was working in Delhi High Court before starting my journey as a radio jockey. One of my seniors in radio told me that to correct my voice expression I should start doing theatre. I am just all over the place. Thankfully, in a good way.

If you really want to be a Sachin Tendulkar or an AR Rahman, you have to be master of one. You can’t be a Jack of all trades. Because your energies get diverted. But having said that, you can’t really plan to become a legend. I was not only playing cricket, I was also playing volleyball, squash badminton – all of them together. I wanted to be a sportsperson.

So why did you not take it seriously?

Let’s be honest, I miserably failed at it. You have to show that seriousness, that passion that commitment at the age of 15. I respect all sportspersons a lot more than actors. I wasn’t serious. I pray to God that give me another life and let me start from scratch and I’ll make sure that I am a cricketer.  This time I’ll make sure I don’t get distracted by what my brother is doing. I get very emotional when anyone talks about cricket.

Watch the interview to find out more.