Destiny’s child

He was only 16 when he ran away from home but Harshvardhan Rane has never looked back. For this Gwalior boy, who managed to escape to Delhi (after one failed attempt at 15) with no plan in sight and not even any proper qualification, life has been quite an adventure. “I spent my childhood trying to express myself and I was not very good at it. In my town, most kids would take up engineering or medicine or something else but acting was not an option.” As he speaks, the thoughts seem to take a coherent shape in his head and he continues. “I was in a daze in my childhood mostly — always looking out of the window, waiting for some life to happen that I wanted to live. Now I realise it is this and that’s what got me out of Gwalior.”

The actor’s first Bollywood film Sanam Teri Kasam recently hit theatres and he has been getting good feedback for his performance. The lure towards films started during the Chitrahaar days in the early 90s, as Harshvardhan recalls. “I would see the songs and would feel a tug from within. You’d wonder why, but you’d not have an answer. I always wanted to do something related to the camera. When you are young, these are dreams you feel embarrassed talking about. You don’t want to be made fun of. That would leave a scar on an young mind.”

Harshvardhan’s father was aware of his son’s plans of leaving town. “My parents separated when I was ten and I was living with my father. He could sense my general disinterest in things. I didn’t have too many friends either. My father was a doctor but his passion was making cars and he was also very good at carpentry. He was a gem and I don’t blame him for not understanding me. When I told him that I would be leaving, he checked his pocket and took out 100-rupee note and gave it to me. He did not like that I was leaving, yet he gave me the money. That is a very fatherly thing to do,” he says. So was he a difficult kid “I am sure I was. It was not a normal set-up without my mom. I must have been affected in some way or the other,” Harshvardhan says.

His initial years in Delhi were defined by a struggle for the basics — food, clothing and shelter. His first shelter was the kitchen of a mess, where a certain Rohit bhaiyya fed him his first dinner in the city, following which he fell asleep in the kitchen itself with other boys. “The kitchen boys were kind enough to feed me dinner whenever they would spot me. A plate of chhole-chawal was my only meal in the day,” says the actor who didn’t even have the money to buy a bar of soap at that time. “I am in touch with most of the friends I made at that time. They would lie at home and get food for me.” With some efforts, he managed to find a job in a PCO and from there he graduated to a cyber café. It was there that he met a lady who gave him a job in DVD distribution. “She was so happy with my work and I borrowed some money from her to buy a shirt, a pair of pants, underwear and a Jovan Musk deodorant,” Harsh recalls with a smile.

His next job was as an assistant DJ in a club where he met the girl of his dreams. “I was asked to play one day when the DJ left. While playing I spotted this girl and later I walked up to her to talk to her. Her name’s Meenakshi Das and she became my girlfriend. We moved to Mumbai in 2006 — we had kissed the Victoria Terminus platform after getting off the train,” he recalls.

His first job in Mumbai was a reality show for which he got a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakhs. “Rajiv Lakshman offered it to me and promised to pay me Rs 1.5 lakhs. I was ready to do anything. I did the show and it worked. He could have easily gone back on his word, as we had not signed any contract. I will forever remain grateful to him for actually honouring his word,” Harshvardhan says. His first serial was Left Right Left and he also took a course at the Barry John acting academy. “My acting coach Saurabh Sachdeva pointed out that I am dyslexic. I know my reading is a pain and it drains me out. I feel sleepy after reading for ten minutes.” He fought through these hurdles and landed on his first film offer for a Telugu film. That professional leap coincided with a personal setback. “That’s when Meenakshi and I broke up,” he says.

The Telugu film worked well but Harshvardhan took his time to accept the next offer. “I was only getting villainous roles at that time. I had no work for a long time because I was looking for a solo hero lead.” To sustain himself, he took to odd jobs again. His father had left him his carpentry tools. “I began to retexture old furniture, even painted a few restaurants. I had all my tools my dad left me before he passed away,” says Harshvardhan.

The year 2013 onwards things started looking up for him. “One of the offers came from John Abraham’s production company. I was also approached for Ram-Leela. I met Sanjay sir — just meeting him was so surreal. I really admire him. He offered me a negative role and I had never done a role like that. I wasn’t sure of it and stated my confusion to him in all honesty. But I am very keen to work with him future,” he says. Harshvardhan signed Sanam Teri Kasam 10 days before the shoot was to begin. Right now, the actor says that he’s getting a lot of offers for bilingual films but he is keen on only Hindi or Telugu films.

Harshvardhan confesses that he’s not a religious person but he does go to the temple every New Year’s eve to thank God for the year that went by. And he believes in giving back to the society too. The actor has adopted a girl child named Swati who lost her parents to HIV. “I adopted Swati when she was four. She is seven now and is a topper of her class. We have grown into a foundation this year,” he says.

The conversation again veers into the personal space and we ask him about his mother, who also lives in the same city as him, in Hyderabad. Harshvardhan says, “I was not in touch with my mother but I had her number though. I have no memories with her. It’s almost like she’s someone else’s mother. My younger sister and I were told that we needed to move on without her.” He continues, “I don’t do things the society wants me to do. I have reached this place after a lot of struggle and I am at peace now. I am a very low drama person.”

His jeep that’s parked outside his house where we were meeting is perhaps another dimension to his free-spirited personality. “I cannot imagine myself buying a house or driving sedans. I love driving my jeep. I want to buy the Army vehicle that has small compartments. I can use that to travel while living in it, you know just park it somewhere and set off again whenever I want.”

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