Gurfateh Pirzada shared this image. (courtesy: gurfatehpirzada)
Gurfateh Pirzada, who became a star after featuring in the Netflix hit Class, in his piece for Humans Of Bombay, opened up about his journey as an actor, his childhood and more. Gurfateh Pirzada revealed that he worked at a grocery store in the US, where he used to take out garbage. He also opened up on incidents of being bullied. “Class! That’s where you might remember me from. But as passionate as I’m about acting today, it wasn’t so a decade ago. In 12th grade, my theater teacher said, ‘You have the look for the play I’m doing. Try!’ I auditioned and got the lead role! After 4 months of hard work, we received a standing ovation. That day, I found my calling,” he began the post with these words.
Gurfateh addressed his family dynamics and wrote: “But after school, I had to make the toughest decision of my life-do I support my family or pursue acting? I’m from broken family. Mum stayed with Dad because she had nowhere to go. It wasn’t until my sister told Mum, ‘I’m taking Gurfateh and going to Nana Nani’s place,’ that she left Dad. I was 9.”
Describing himself as an “awkward kid,” Gurfateh mentioned in his post that he was “bullied” as a child as a consequence of which his academics suffered too. “Overnight, life changed. I became the ‘awkward kid’ and was bullied. My academics suffered. Seeing how low I’d been, Mom pushed me to play cricket. It became my escape. I wanted to pursue it full time, but in 12th, I got injured and had to quit. After that, acting happened. By then, Mum and Didi had moved to the US. I thought they were doing well but when I visited them, reality hit me. They were living in a basement in a stranger’s house. Mom was working 18 hours a day doing odd jobs.”
Looking back at his days in the US, Gurfateh revealed that he worked in a grocery store and was paid $5 a day. “I moved in with them. I worked at a grocery store – I’d cut meat and take out garbage for $5 a day. But 5 months later, I told Mum, ‘We don’t deserve this.” Gurfateh had big dreams and he decided to change the course of his life. He added, “I’ll become an actor and make things better.’ We moved to Bombay; I gave 3000 auditions. I took a loan from my uncle and aunt so I could pay for workshops. The hustle was real! 1 time, we had just 1 month’s rent left.”
Gurfateh’s first gig was as a junior artist. Things changed when he was cast in a small role in Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra. “But just as I was losing all hope, I landed my first gig-a TV ad as a junior artist. With my 1st salary, I paid the next month’s rent. I did a show after, as the 6th friend of the lead. And then, Mukesh Chhabra casted me for Brahmastra. I’ll never forget that! Then, Guilty happened and after 7 months of lull during covid, I got a role in Class for Netflix,” he added.
Summing up his journey as an outsider, the actor added, “As an outsider, you’ve to prove yourself time and again and with Class, that’s what I’ve tried to do. The love has been crazy. But this is just the start! Yet from what I’ve done, if there’s one take away, it’s this-give your dreams all you’ve got, you’ll be amazed to see what comes out of it. It did for me, it will for you.”
Read Gurfateh Pirzada’s posts here:
Gurfateh Pirzada, who featured as one of the main characters in Netflix series Class, has also been a part of projects like Guilty and Brahmastra. He will soon be seen in Dharma Productions’ Bedhadak, which will mark Shanaya Kapoor’s Bolywood debut.
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