JOIN USRemember Danish Khan who aimed and shot dead his father’s (Sardar played by Manoj Bajpai) murderers inside a shopping complex in Gangs of Wasseypur – Part II ? He was Vineet Singh, whose sudden switch from being a calm person to an agitated man, added a lot of drama to the critically acclaimed film. Getting those few minutes onscreen was not an easy task for Vineet. It took him years to get what he wanted in his life.
Being a doctor, Vineet took the path hardly taken by those wanting to become onscreen icons. At that time he never knew this one decision would cost him 14 years of his life. “I knew I wanted something else from my life. So I decided to quit my profession and participated in an acting talent hunt in 1999. Despite being the winner things never turned around as I was expecting them to,” recalls Vineet, who fought against all odds to prove himself as an actor.
“Life was not easy. I couldn’t get roles as an actor. So I switched over to direction. I spent another five years directing Marathi films,” says Vineet, who also worked with Mahesh Manjrekar in one of the projects. But that did not suffice and he decided to leave direction in 2006 and decided to do all kinds of acting work that came along his way.
“My ambition of acting made me hungry for roles. I was comfortable even with a spook’s role! All I had was a belief that one day I will get a big break,” says Vineet. His determination pushed him to do more than 20 films including regional cinema like Bhojpuri and Marathi.
Finally, it was Mahesh Manjerakar’s bilingual film in Hindi and Marathi City of Gold that opened channels. Thereafter, he bagged a role in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur which brought him into the limelight for his role as Danish Khan who plays older brother to Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Faizal).
But Vineet has his share of complaints. “I did not get the same popularity as Nawazuddin, Huma (Qureshi) and other actors,” says Vineet. “I am not against them but sometimes you feel bad.
“On the other hand, it also motivates you to establish more trust with the audience. I got that opportunity through Bombay Talkies and Shorts.”
Since life has taken a turn for the better now, the doctor-turned-actor now selects the roles he wants to do. He will be seen next in Manish Tiwary’s Issaq, Punit Malhotra’s Gori Tere Pyaar Mein and Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly which was screened at Cannes this year. “It is the right time for me to experiment with roles,” signs off Vineet with a smile on his face.