MUMBAI: Actress Mrinal Navell says that showbiz requires you to be very patient. You cannot be in a rush to achieve your career goals and be consistent with your efforts.

“The last one year I had no work, no major project. I did a little bit of projects, but not anything major or regular. So, it was very tough and I really had to keep up with my sanity. But the thing is that I am involved with other creative activities also like I paint. I am a sketch artist. Also, I play the guitar. I read books, I write. I used to learn dancing this during this one year gap. So this last one year, there was no official work, but otherwise I was busy all the time. I kept myself busy. It's something that we need to do. You have to work towards keeping yourself busy and I did that luckily. There were times when I used to feel very insecure, I used to be very vulnerable, I used to doubt myself but then again, we need a lot of patience in this line. I knew that I have already made up my mind and that this line needs a lot of consistency,” she says.

She adds, “Here, if you're so desperate and if you are vulnerable, then there are a lot of people who are just ready to pounce upon you and take advantage of you, not just girls but guys also. I know of people who ran away from their homes to become actors. And while this shows their passion, I feel like you should have a plan.”

A basic plan needs to be in place, she says, adding, “You need to have a basic financial backup, no matter what. Basic financial backup is a must because you can’t sleep empty stomach. And things take time to materialise in this industry. If you keep working hard, one day you will achieve something.  But you still need basic financial backup to live, to eat, to sleep at night. You cannot just come here without any backup.”

Meanwhile, she adds that her family has always been very supportive of her career. She says, “Actually, becoming an actor is the only thing I remember setting up as my target ever in life. I don't recall myself thinking about any other profession. My parents are movie geeks. They both love watching movies and that came into me as well. I also grew up watching movies. In fact, I've never watched any cartoons. Whenever my parents and I would sit together, while eating dinner or something, we used to watch movies only. In fact, we have never watched a series. We've always watched movies and only movies, old movies, new movies. The second reason for me becoming an actor is a small story. When I was in class fifth or sixth, I was watching a Rohit Shetty movie. I don't remember which movie exactly. He had set up this trend of releasing the BTS also along with the movie at the end. So, the making of the movie was shown at the end of the film. I was so intrigued by it. Like there was this actor who was standing on a car and he was tied up with all those harnesses. But when that scene actually came up in the movie, it seemed like he was performing that stunt. I was so amazed by it.”

She adds, “I had to work very hard, obviously. But yes, I would say that there is a thing called destiny also that works for you. And there are some things that are meant to work for you and they do work for you, no matter what. But that doesn't mean that we stop working hard. This is what I believe I know the things I deserve. I get them no matter what. But that doesn't mean that I just rely on this prophecy and I don't do anything on my own. I've been lucky that I got multiple chances. But then again, I have been hardworking also that I made the best use of them."