Aftab Shivdasani: You can be from the best film family, but if you don’t have acceptance by audience, nothing can help you

There are many who feel that nepotism indeed ruins the chances of outsiders to make it big in the industry, actor Aftab Shivdasani differs as he believes it’s the audience who have the last word.

He tells us, “My greatest achievement has been people’s love and appreciation for me right from my launch film, Mast (1999). I was accepted by the public. Eventually if they’re on your side, I don’t think anyone can stop you from achieving what you want to achieve. Their love, blessing and their fan following is the only things that matters.”

Addressing the hottest debate around insider vs outsider, the 42-year-old adds that nothing really makes a difference. “You can be from the best film family, you can be from a legacy but if you don’t have acceptance from the audience, nothing can help you. They’re the only people that can make or break you. That’s what has kept me going,” he says.

Not appreciating the circus and blame game which has been happening post Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, the actor feels people are fuelling negativity with more negativity and that’s not an ideal situation on social media. 

“The problem is that because of the lockdown crisis, everyone is sitting jobless and have that much time to give opinions. People are just after each other’s throat which doesn’t solves anybody's problem. They’re forgetting we’re in the middle of the largest crisis mankind has ever faced. So you’re sitting and wasting time bringing people down. Now, more than ever, is the time to uplift one another. How are you helping the situation by going after somebody?” he asks.

Hence, Shivdasani is clear that he’s not dwelling on any kind of negativity and is concentrating on work as he’s among the first Bollywood actors to resume work. He’s currently shooting his web series and calls the experience unique but he’s “happy to be back on a set.”

While people are still a bit wary of stepping out to work because of the fear of contracting the virus and the growing number of cases, we ask if that was a concern for him, too?

The actor shares, “The first thing we need is change fear to concern. Fear has a lot of negative connotation. If you’re concerned about the situation, you take precautions and mentally make peace with the fact that you’ve to live with it for a while. You can’t sit at home for the rest of the year, whether you work in a company or on a film set. You’ve to review life. Yes, it’s going to be different from what we were used to, but we’ve to adapt; there’s no other way out.”

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