“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change”. These words by Albert Einstein are of true meaning in this world of today where everyone is so afraid of change. Let me tell you a story, sounds like a fairytale about change. Born in 2002, raised in a conservative family, I was injected with impeccable values and manners that define me today. If you asked me 3 years ago of the present me, I would not believe you. That’s why I believe in God and that’s the reason I believe in the power of dreams. I come from a background where my ancestors have been advocates of the law and decorated politicians and have helped in administering the growth of Bengal, the state from where I come from. My roots have been so deep in administrative and legal affairs, that it feels like general knowledge to me.
My great grandfather was awarded the Roy Bahadur title during the British rule as he served as a judge of the then Calcutta (capital of British India) high court and such level of education and honesty was rare in pre-independent India. Not to boast, but I feel that to excel among all has been a trait in my forefathers that they have blessed me with and passed on. I believe that to be kind and humble is the most important part to be a person of integrity that makes one successful. Acting has always been a spectacle of awe since I started to engulf movies as my favorite pastime since I was a child.
I have never felt bored from watching a film and it has rather relaxed me every time I did so. Films, mostly Bollywood films in the beginning made me feel so enthralled about the magical world of cinema, the unreal ways of portraying certain instances by those on screen and people clapping and cheering their performance. Movies made me happy and movies helped me learn about the world. I took interest in theater when I was in middle school and won the first prize for an original written piece and a second position for acting first time on screen. That was it. My plans initially were to go into the hospitality industry but snap, and I was on the plane to the city of angels: Los Angeles. Covid gave me so much time to think and so much time to explore that I became sure of choosing acting as a career for a lifetime. So, August,21,2021 I reached LAX at around 9am in the morning.
I still remember that day. I had four suitcases filled with clothes and emotions from back home. I had never lived alone far away from home and that too 8147 miles away in a foreign land where I had never visited before, and I didn’t know anyone there. My mom would call multiple times daily when I first came to see if I was doing fine. I am not going to lie but I was scared, I was terrified and at moments I felt leaving everything and running back home. I couldn’t face so many changes at once and so many new adjustments that had suddenly become a part of my new life. I was 19 and I learnt to take responsibility and I learnt to deal with issues in my life on my own.
I had to, as there was no one to help. After being barred to attend acting school for being afflicted with common cold in the pandemic season, I was grateful to finally learn acting as a real subject, which was literally a dream from where I came from, acting was and still is considered for the escapists. I started learning acting and it made me more aware of myself and my surroundings and how free I could be, being aware of my boundaries at the same time. I was a hopeless introvert and now I had suddenly turned into an over-expressive extrovert. I made friends and I learnt so much about so many different cultures, people, countries, languages and to me it’s fascinating. It is one of the best experiences one could ever have. I started acting in films which was unbelievable for me. I could call myself “an actor”. That joy is unexplainable to someone who doesn’t know how much it means to me. I made so many friends in the process and it started feeling like home. What was unknown started becoming home, and that was the most relieving to me. I started with an 8 week program in 2021. It was awesome and the people I met were incredible. I travelled to San Francisco and San Diego at the end of that year to know more about the country, the people, the culture as this was the place I would be calling home. I took a short detour to a four week filmmaking course in Feb 2022 and it stunned me when I learned how the world looks from behind the camera. I won a runners up at the Los Angeles Student Film Festival for a film I directed in school that boosted my morale and gave me assurance about the path that I had chosen. Soon I started my 2 year degree in acting in summer and I was enjoying the different variations and ways of doing a scene and having fun with it. Dealing with emotions and feelings and to use real life experiences to appeal to the audience was so vivid and magical for me. It moulded me everyday.
I was so proud of what I had chosen, an art to entertain others, to make others feel the way you want them to, was my job. I bumped into Finn from Stranger things later in 2022 that taught me that being humble at the zenith of fame is the real test of an actor and he taught me that. He so warmly greeted and took pictures with me. 2022 was the best year ever since I came to LA. I did photoshoots, directed and acted in films and travelled to New York City for the first time. I was so happy and grateful that I was learning so much and I feel blessed for everything. I learned a lot more about life in the following year with good and bad experiences in a roller coaster of a year and in the one in which I graduated and was labeled as an actor. When I walked in that cape at Warner Bros for my degree from the Dean, it was a moment that was uniquely unbelievable. It was a moment that made me realize that dreams do come true. It was a slap on the face of those who said I was worthless and unserious about my life and career.
That moment, when everyone clapped and cheered me on stage, it made me so so proud of myself. I have learnt a lot in the years I have been here and I am still learning in the time I am here. While I tell you my story, I started learning about those whose stories impacted change in the world. I was, I am and I will be learning and I will be acting, as it’s not a profession but a way of living life. So, in this year of prayers, hopes and dreams, I thank God and I thank my mom and dad for everything they have done for me. Yes, they have not supported me morally for my decision of being an actor but at the same time they have not stopped me from making my dream a reality.2024 has just begun and the show must go on. I am humble as I look back to my 6 year old self smiling at the television screen when I could barely understand anything, and to present me that’s so grateful to everything. I walked alone and I thank myself, as today I am grateful to find people with whom I may have a chance to walk with. As I wrap this up, an anonymous quote that was striking to me is, “ If the world refuses to shake hands with you,shake the world.”