If you have talent, grit, persistence, and patience, you will survive not just hiccups, but heartbreaks too, says actor Prashantt Guptha
Actor Prashantt Guptha who has acted in films like Neerja, Isaaq and The Tashkent Files is all set to play the lead in a Christmas movie in Hollywood
Actor-entrepreneur Prashantt Guptha refuses to give up on his dreams. While most people would have done so early in life, he refused to let go of his aspirations until he got his first break. Traversing between New York and Mumbai he has worked in movies like Neerja, Issaq and Identity Card. He was also seen in the recently released thriller The Tashkent Files which revolves around the death of India’s second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Prashantt Gupta
And now he is celebrating another big break his way, his first Hollywood casting where for the first time an Indian actor will play a lead in a Christmas movie. A New Christmas slated for release in December later this year happened quite serendipitously. That’s not all. Riding the digital wave, the actor has been busy pursuing yet another dream close to his heart, that of poetry and music.
In an interview with YSWeekender Prashantt tells us how he has been kicking up a storm with poetry and music and what it feels like to be working on a Christmas movie...
Making the most of digital media
While Prashantt waited for all the projects he signed after the movie, Neerja to take off, he was busy producing poetry that he aired on YouTube. He also wrote music tributes to legends such as Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. The response he received left him overwhelmed. He also produced a short film that got acquired by Humara Movies. Realising the power of using digital medium he is happy to have given wings to something that has been so close to his heart.
“My interest in poetry began at a very early age, possibly 14. I grew up in New York where most children listened to mainstream American music, or at best the latest Bollywood chartbusters. But I developed a flair for ghazals and shayari. I chose to pay tributes to Rafi Saab and Kishore da because I grew up listening to them and I became a good singer by singing their songs. I wanted this generation to reconnect with these legendary singers through my tributes. The songs I chose also resonate with my own journey in Mumbai.”
A Hollywood Christmas
“My first Hollywood outing came to me on a visit to Los Angeles in Mid 2018 when I met with producer friends who were developing several other projects, and suddenly this idea came up. From there the idea and its execution went into 5th gear and last Christmas I was in NYC shooting for two months,” he says.
Prashantt is excited about showing his new side to the audience in both the US and India. “We are looking at a Christmas 2019 release,” he says.
You can survive hiccups and heartbreaks
Digital platforms and OTT platforms have opened up a host of opportunities for those who want to create content.
As someone who leveraged the digital media to realise one of his own dreams Prashantt says, “OTT platforms have given birth to new content, content creators and feelings of contentment. It's a great space to be in provided we as a country develop the courage and scale to tell great stories and with immense production value. We have it in us to be game changers if we play the game right.”
Prashantt Guptha is all set for a Hollywood release
But to put yourself out there, you have to be ready for criticism, rejection and failure.
Prashantt, who amidst rejection, family responsibility, and even in the face of depression, refused to budge or give up on his dreams, says, “The challenges that I was faced cannot be called hiccups as that would be an understatement. The struggle was beyond just that.”
He believes that it is always important to carry the lessons that tough times teach you in life.
“At this juncture of my life when things are so much better and that phase seems to be passing by for good, I would say that if you have talent, grit, persistence, the virtue of hard work and the faith to be patient, you will survive not just hiccups, but heartbreaks too,” he says.
