Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra recalls the time when he sat near the toilet and travelled without ticket

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has said that he used to travel in trains without a ticket as he wanted to save the money for ‘other expenses’ during his initial days in the film industry. (lso read: Amitabh says Rakeysh designed his French beard for Aks, which he never removed)

Rakeysh started his career as an ad filmmaker and made his feature film debut with the 2001 film Aks that brought Manoj Bajpayee and Amitabh Bachchan together onscreen for the first time. The film also starred Raveena Tandon.

Speaking at an event in Delhi, Rakeysh said, "I had this sanduk (box) with me which I took while travelling to Mumbai for the first time to try my luck. I remember boarding the Rajdhani train without a ticket."

Revealing the reason why he did so, the filmmaker said he wanted "to save money for other expenses. So the ticket collector used to make us sit towards the end of the boggy near the toilets. Though the tickets cost 416, we used to travel in just ₹100."

He also recalled how he first met Gulzar just a few days after he landed in Mumbai. Rakeysh said he lied to the gatekeeper and Gulzar's secretary to meet the famous poet. Rakeysh had also asked Gulzar to write a film for him based on Devdas. The filmmaker also said that the movie could not be made but they later worked together and Gulzar played the role of a father for him and taught him a lot.

After Aks, Rakeysh tasted stardom when his Aamir Khan-starrer Rang De Basanti hit theatres and became popular in 2006. He has since made films such as Delhi 6, Mirzya, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Toofan.