Ronit Roy recalls struggling days; shares how he survived on roti and onions till a kind dhaba owner gave free daal: 'I was out of money'
went through very tough times with money problems and feeling alone. Now well known for his work in films and on TV, he recently spoke about how hard life was for him in the early 1990s when he was trying to start his career.
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He faced many challenges both in his personal life and professionally before he finally found stability.
Early struggles before film debut
Before making his film debut with 'Jaan Tere Naam' in 1992, directed by
, Ronit Roy went through serious financial struggles and found it hard to meet even his basic needs. He often felt cut off from the film industry and kept to himself. Thinking back on that period during an interview on the Hindi Rush podcast, he said, 'I honestly don't know why my career didn't take off in the early days.
I used to think about it a lot before, but now I don't. I stay in my own zone, and I think a lot of it also happened because I stopped going to people for work, and hence, they stopped giving me opportunities.
'
A memorable dhaba experience
The actor shared a memorable experience from those tough days that still stays with him. He used to go to a small dhaba near Bandra station in Mumbai, where, because of his tight budget, he could only afford one meal a day.
His meals were usually either kaali daal or palak paneer with two rotis. He recalled, 'One day, I just asked them for some roti and onions because I was out of money. He gave me 2 rotis and some daal. I told him that I hadn't asked for the daal, and he said, 'Koi baat nahi meri taraf se, aaj aapka daal ka din hai.
''
Financial hardships even after entering films
Even after managing to get into films, Ronit continued to face money problems. He shared that his first acting payment was Rs 50,000, which was given to him in monthly instalments of Rs 4,000. He remembered, 'Back then, that was a huge amount for me. But even after the debut, all the films I did helped me barely manage my expenses. The money never came; it was all still hand to mouth."
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