He came to the city of dreams to make it big but ended up in a hospital with burn injuries.
Armed with his scripts, for days together, Akshay Shivam Shukla (28) stood outside the gate of country's most successful soap opera factory — Balaji Telefilms — only to be driven away by the watchman every day.
Shukla, who came to Mumbai on July 19, set himself ablaze outside the studio of Balaji Telefilms on Tuesday, as he was not allowed to enter the studio by the watchman.
Shukla, who is in Cooper Hospital with severe burn injuries, was saved by a passerby who lunged forward and shoved him into a gutter.
“I love writing scripts and lyrics,” Shukla told the police from his bed in Cooper Hospital. He did not say if he would try to meet Balaji boss Ekta Kapoor again.
“I feel very uncomfortable about the situation,” Kapoor said when HT called her.
After coming to Mumbai Shukla started enquiring about where the Balaji Telefilms offices were. “He stayed at the taxi stand at Appapada in Malad for several days until he found the address,” said Oshiwara police station Inspector Dattarey Sankhe.
On Monday, he managed to squirm his way through when the gates of the studio were open for a puja. But he was thrown out by the watchman.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday, he managed to squirm his way through when the gates of the studio were open for a puja. But he was thrown out by the watchman.
{{/usCountry}}“We will arrest Shukla on the charge of attempt to suicide once he is out of the hospital. We will inform his family in Uttar Pradesh,” Sankhe said.