There was a time when I had zero balance in my bank account: Akshay Dogra

A page from the personal diary of Akshay Dogra Hello everyone, I am Akshay Dogra whom you all know as Aakash Singh Raizada from my last show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon. Firstly, a little bit about myself. Born and brought up in Delhi where my parents stay, I completed my schooling and later college from the city itself. These days, I stay with my wife in Mumbai. Before getting into acting, I used to write scripts and stories and never thought of becoming an actor. I started my career by working behind the scenes as an executive producer as well as a member of the Creative Unit of many shows. I also worked as an assistant to Deepak Tijori. I was also an executive producer for NDTV Imagine’s Radhaa Ki Betiyaan Kuch Kar Dikhayengi for 4 to 5 episodes. Later, I also worked in news channels like CNBC as an entertainment reporter and later was with NDTV in its production department. After working behind the camera, I thought of quitting and trying my luck on television. One day, to my surprise, an assistant director who saw me, asked if I was an actor? Without bating my eyelid, I immediately replied in the positive. On this, he asked me to come down to his office with my portfolio and appear for an audition. Likewise, I appeared for the audition and by God’s grace, I got the opportunity to do my first television show Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. After that I also did Kasturi, Ranbir Rano, 12/24 Karol Bagh and Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon. In-between these shows, I did couple of videos and episodics. Talking about my journey till date, I would say that I have had to struggle a lot; struggling is part of television. There was a time when I was sitting at home for a year and had no work. Then I had zero balance in my bank account and during that phase my family and my wife has helped me a lot. All I can say is for an actor, it is very difficult to survive without work. I think only main lead roles work in the industry because viewers give importance to the lead players, to me, this is a wrong practice. Anyway, I am not happy with any of my previous roles and am repentant with the roles that I did. Though on the personal front, I have made very good friends like Sanaya (Irani), Abhaas (Mehta), Daljeet (Bhanot). on the professional side, I am not happy with the work I have done till now. But now, I want to do something challenging; will be very choosy about the work I will do in future. On the personal front, I am a very calm guy and don’t take much stress. In fact, I have always been a happy-go-lucky person, so needn’t unwind myself. My best moment of life was when my wife Sakshi and I got together. It’s been four years now are married. So this was my journey in a nutshell. I hope you keep loving me as you do now.