It took me 15 years to get a lead role: Yash Raj

From a small town Islamnagar in district Badaun (UP), actor Yash Raj started his journey to achieve his acting dream in 2007

From a small town Islamnagar in district Badaun (UP), actor Yash Raj started his journey to achieve his acting dream in 2007. The youngster feels he has finally arrived now after completing a feature film with Mimoh Chakrabory. Raj is currently shooting for a Kannada film as lead which is based on bestseller book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

Yash Raj (Instagram)

“It has been a journey of ups and downs. I dropped BDS and left my home. I headed for Mumbai but in three months I exhausted all money and realised I made a mistake. I completed Hotel Management course from Nainital and returned with a proper job which gave me backing to survive,” shares Raj.

He has been doing theatre in UP which he continued in Mumbai. “I did theatre workshops with legendary yesteryear star Biswajit Chatterjee. I did several acting courses and kept on doing plays. I have done countless roles in films, some with big names like Vishal Bharadwaj, and TV serials but most of them are blink and miss or very small. I even did a film as lead with Sanjay Misra and Zakir Hussain but it never released. The lesson learnt important to have a parallel income. As it helped me sustain else, I would have to pack my bags yet again. The key to survival is to stay a put, it’s very tough to survive in the industry with only acting dreams.”

Finally, Raj got his most awaited break. “Writer-director Jayeveer Panghal signed me with Mimoh for feature film Rosh and the thriller is entirely based on my role and sequence of events that happen around me. We shot it in 2019 and the remaining portion was shot in pandemic. We are looking for the release this year in theatres and OTT. I have also completed 25% shoot for my Kannada film. So, things are rolling out and I hope it translates into bigger projects”