Shreyas Talpade talks about being 'back-stabbed' by 'friends' in Bollywood
In Bollywood, you can't have real friends. This fact was reiterated by Shreyas Talpade, who has claimed that industrywalas have "fragile egos," and he has been "back-stabbed" by his "friends." "I've done certain films for friends only keeping their interests in mind, but I've been back-stabbed by the same friends," he said, adding that some people were even uncomfortable sharing screen-space with him.
Opening up about his failures, he said that when some of his films didn't work after Iqbal, people started assuming that he wouldn't add value to their product. "That's why I got into production with the Marathi film Poshter Boyz...it became a big hit," Talpade said. However, its Hindi version failed.
"I took up directing the film's Hindi version but my father passed away 10 days before it went on floors. Just when we started shooting demonetization took place. I think I had bitten off a bit more than I could chew," the actor added. While Talpade thinks he can carry off solo leads with ease, there's a thing he lacks, "ability to market myself."
Talpade wasn't born with a silver spoon. He comes from a middle-class Marathi family and had to struggle to get a foothold in the industry. He followed his passion for acting, and actively participated in theater in college. He was doing Marathi and Hindi serials, when by fate, he auditioned for Nagesh Kukunoor's Iqbal and grabbed it, even though he didn't meet the criteria.
Furthering his love for theater, Talpade recently launched an OTT platform for theater, and performing arts called Nine Rasa. "Last year, we saw that films and events etc. started going online. That's when the idea came to us that why don't we take theater online," he shared, adding, for this endeavor, he and his wife put in Rs. 4.5cr as investment from their pockets.
