Nakuul Mehta Recalls Early Struggles, Says His First Telugu Film Never Saw Release: "Felt Like I Had No Allies, No Support"

Before becoming a well-known name in television and theatre, Nakuul Mehta's acting journey began with a project that never saw the light of day. The actor, who was recently seen playing an ISRO scientist in Space Gen - Chandrayaan, looked back on his early days in the industry, the challenges he faced, and how his understanding of success has changed over the years.

What Nakuul Mehta Said

In an interview with India Today, Nakuul Mehta recalled that his first acting assignment was a Telugu film that was never released.

Reflecting on that phase of his career, he said, "I started my career with a Telugu film which never came out-one of those works. When I went to Hyderabad, Shriya Saran was the name everywhere. I had already seen her work because I was there for three months with nothing to do, so I would go and watch her films. She had probably just started then, but she was extremely successful straight away. Then I went back to theatre, did some advertising, and found my way. She, on the other hand, has been working consistently and has been at it for 25 years. That's the difference."

Speaking about his mindset during his early years, the actor admitted he did not initially have a clear sense of purpose. He said, "Initially, I'm not even sure why I wanted to be an actor. A lot of people growing up used to say, 'You should do acting.' I enjoyed entertaining people and being at the centre of it, but I don't think I had a clear purpose then."

Nakuul also opened up about the difficulties he faced while working on the South Indian film, particularly due to the language barrier and working conditions.

Recalling the experience, he said, "Doing a South film was very hard for me because I didn't know the language. The cimstancesn which  made that film were challenging, and I felt like I d no allies, no support. This had nothing to do with the industry; it had everything to do with the people I was working with at that point."

He added that the experience eventually helped him understand what he truly enjoyed about acting. "After that experience, I realised I enjoyed something about the life between 'action' and 'cut'. Then I started doing television, and somewhere along the way, I discovered the joy of getting a scene right," the actor said.

Talking about how his definition of success has evolved over time, Nakuul explained that it is no longer driven by external validation alone.

He said, "A show or film may not reach people, but what I felt that day was success for me. Now, on every show, if you can have two or three great days-days where you personally feel you did your best-that, to me, is success. That's very different from starting with the mindset of 'I need this show to work.' That's how it starts for most of us: I need this to work so I get more work."

Talking about Nakuul's latest release, Space Gen - Chandrayaan, it was released on January 23. 

Also Read: Nakuul Mehta Recalls Losing A Film For Being "Too Good-Looking"