This Bharat, Delhi Crime actor works as a Swiggy delivery man in free time
Chetan Rao, an actor who has appeared in Salman Khan-starrer Bharat and web series Delhi Crime, has been working in showbiz for almost a-year-and-a-half. He double as a Swiggy delivery boy to earn a living.
When there is fire in your heart but also in your belly, what do you do? You work hard to strike a balance between your passion and profession. And that’s what Chetan Rao is doing with much eclat. Rao is an actor who has done small character roles in the Salman Khan-starrer Bharat, in the TV series Savdhaan India, and also in Netflix’s Delhi Crime. In free time, Rao works as a delivery boy with an online food delivery service in Delhi.
He also became popular on Twitter recently, when actor Rajesh Tailang tweeted about Rao; the two had worked in the web series. Tailang posted about him on social media when his food order was delivered by Rao. He had tweeted: “Today the #swiggy delivery guy, who delivered food at my place is an actor and he did a cameo with me in #delhicrime . Whenever is not getting acting job, he does this. RESPECT.”
He lives in Kalyanpuri, but travels around the country when he’s shooting. Although the screen time that he gets is not much, it’s enough to satisfy his hunger to perform. Confesses the 29-year-old, “I generally get a role of about 2-3 minutes but that doesn’t matter to me. Even a minute role is enough to fuel my passion for acting.”
All his life, Rao had wanted to become an actor, but did not have the means to achieve his dreams. “Mujhe TV aur films dekhne ka bahut shauk hai. Mai hamseha se actor banna chahta tha. Socha, film institute ke liye paise nahi hain toh theatre kar lun, lekin utne paise bhi nahi the. Toh fir maine TV ko guru bana liya. Dekh-dekh kar acting sikh gaya, (I was always fond of watching TV shows and films. I had always wanted to become an actor. So I thought, why not put together some money and join a film institute? But I couldn’t afford it, so I taught myself by watching TV,” says Rao.
But the first time that he went on set wasn’t for a role. “Pehle toh mai spot boy ki tarah kaam karta tha, in film jo Delhi mei shoot hoti thi. Apne sapne ke kafi kareeb tha mai tab bhi. Set pe logo ko dekh le bhi acting sikha. Ghar jaake wohi dialogues bolta tha jo actors ko dekhta tha sets pe karte hue (laughs) (I used to work as a spot boy. I used to observe the actors on set and repeat their lines after going back home),” he says.
Gradually, he gathered the confidence to audition for small roles. “Mujhe aram se chotey motey roles mil jatey hain, (I get small roles with relative ease),” he says.
While the acting jobs satiate his heart, he still needed to earn money. “I don’t earn much through side roles so I work as a delivery man to manage my expenses,” he tells us.
And does he get recognised when he is out to deliver the food? “Sometimes, log pehchan lete hain, kabhi nahi pehchantey. Acha lagta hai jab koi kehta ki aapko kahin dekha hai, aur acha lagta hai jab kehte hain ki aapko TV ya film mei dekha hai... (Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. It feels good when they say they’ve seen my work),” he says.
He concludes this conversation with a positive note:” I know that I am a delivery boy today, lekin ek din mehant se mai superstar jaroor banunga (One day I will become a superstar because of my sheer hard work).”
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