28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘He threw a pencil at me': Arjan Bajwa recalls ex-Raymond chairman, producer Vijaypat Singhania launching him; how he weathered feud with son Gautam Singhania
Actor Arjan Bajwa recently spoke about his association with Vijaypat Singhania, ex-Chairman and Managing Director of the Raymond Group. The actor recalled his first meeting with the business tycoon on the sets of his debut Hindi film Woh Tera Naam Tha, which marked Vijaypat Singhania's first production venture. In a recent interaction, Arjan also shared the deep bond he shares with Singhania, a relationship that has continued to this day, despite the latter facing a tough time after his fallout with his son Gautam Singhania.
Speaking to Siddharth Kannan about his first encounter with Vijaypat Singhania, Arjan shared, 'During the audition of Woh Tera Naam Tha, I was standing in front of the camera and was surrounded by people who were telling me what to do, and I see a man standing behind the camera and I am trying to figure out where have I seen him before? He was standing, wearing a safari suit and smiling at everyone. I thought to myself, 'Is that Vijaypat Singhania?' I was thinking what is he doing at auditions.'
He went on to say, 'Somebody then made me meet Vijaypat Singhania and I got to know that he is the producer of the film. I was confused as to why is he producing our film? Then I got to know that he has entered film production and this film is his debut as a producer. Then I realised this a big team.'
Recalling their first conversation and how Singhania schooled him, Arjan shared, 'Vijay ji asked me where all I have travelled and I told him. He is a very intelligent man. He asked me where is Monaco? And I thought he is asking about Macao. I told him 'near Hong Kong' and he had a pencil in his hand and he threw that pencil at me. I got scared. Then I realised he has a lot of knowledge and we started talking about the world, travel and aviation. We would sit for hours and talk while the shoot was on. He would draw diagrams for me, so a lot that I know about aviation is because of him.'
For the unversed, Vijaypat Singhania had a feud with his son Gautam Singhania after he gifted his entire 37.17 percent stake in Raymond to him in 2015. However, in 2017, tensions between the two arose after Vijaypat Singhania alleged being denied possession of the duplex at JK House, the Singhania family-owned property in South Mumbai. A report in The Economic Times claimed that Vijaypat Singhania had to live in rented accommodation in Mumbai, and that the once-prominent industrialist no longer owned a car or had a driver.
Despite Vijaypat Singhania's strained relationship with his son, Arjan revealed that he has stayed in touch with the veteran industrialist. He shared, 'I think everybody knows about it but considering that it is a family matter, I leave it at that. He is doing good, I went to his house, I keep visiting him. A while back I had asked him something about aviation and he took my class for one hour, explaining me things on paper.' When asked if Vijaypat Singhania gets emotional after his fallout with his son, Arjan responded, 'No, he is a very strong man.'
