‘25 people in a 2-BHK’: Saurabh Shukla recalls sharing a house with Manoj Bajpayee, ‘depressing’ parties of struggling actors

He added that filmmaker Vijay Krishna Acharya, fondly called Victor, also moved in with them. “Victor is a very close friend. He was in Bombay at the time, so I told him, ‘Why are you living alone? Come stay with us.’ And he joined us too.”

While Tigmanshu Dhulia didn’t officially live with them because his brother had a house in the city, he was practically always around. “Tigmanshu didn’t stay with us, but he spent all his time with us,” Saurabh recalled.

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‘There would be 25 people in the house’

The group first stayed in DN Nagar before shifting to Goregaon, where four to five of them officially shared a two-bedroom apartment. But by evening, the space would overflow.

“There were five of us living there, and by night, those five would call their friends—suddenly there would be 25 people in the house. We had no work, so evenings would bring a sense of depression. What do you do then? You party.”

“People would drink so much that they couldn’t go back. Out of 25, about 18-19 would end up sleeping in the house. Many times, when you finally went to sleep, you’d realise there was no space left and wonder, ‘Where do I even lie down?’”

Saurabh also shared an unbelievable incident involving their late friend, actor Jeetendra Shastri. Recalling an earlier episode, he said, “Jeetu bhai had once jumped off a boat in Mauritius without anyone noticing, then swam underneath and came back. We already knew about this story.”

“One evening in Mumbai, I reached home in Goregaon and saw everyone shouting, ‘Jeetu, don’t do this!’ I looked up and saw him sitting on the third-floor window ledge, one leg inside and one outside.”

When Saurabh tried to stop him, Jeetendra remained unfazed. “He said, ‘I’ve done this before—I jumped off a boat in Mauritius.’ I told him, ‘Have you lost your mind? There’s no sea below, we’re on the third floor!’”

Jeetendra insisted he could pull it off. “He said, ‘I’ll jump from here, grab that tree branch, and land safely.’”

He said, “All that was going through our heads was—what if something happens? Tomorrow we’ll be in jail, and the news will say struggling actors killed their friend.”

Moving from Delhi to Mumbai

In an earlier conversation with the YouTube channel Filmore India, Saurabh Shukla shared that after spending several years in theatre in Delhi and later working with Shekhar Kapur on Bandit Queen, he gained the confidence to pursue a career in Mumbai. He moved to the city with aspirations of becoming a filmmaker.

Saurabh moved to Mumbai with Manoj, and the two were roommates when they first started living here. “When Manoj and I moved here, we moved into a rented room in DN Nagar and we paid Rs 24,000 rent for it for the entire year, which was a lot for us in those days. Both of us paid Rs 12,000 each. But at least, we were confident that no one can throw us out for a year. We thought that we have a place to stay, we will sort out the food as well. Whosoever earns more, they will manage the food. But now, things are different. A new kid coming to Mumbai, who wants to live here, and if they have to give Rs 60,000, how will they do it? They don’t have the luxury of enjoying that immaturity. They can’t afford to think that it’s okay even if I don’t have the money. They can’t pay someone Rs 6 lakh as rent, it’s a lot of money,” he said.

Saurabh was last seen in Subedaar, also starring Anil Kapoor and Radhika Madan. His directorial venture Jab Khuli Kitaab, starring Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia was released on March 6 on Zee 5.

This article contains themes of past struggles, and mentions of alcohol consumption and near-death incidents in a non-advisory, reflective storytelling context. It is shared for entertainment and archival purposes and should not be taken as an endorsement of risky behavior; reader discretion is advised regarding the sensitive nature of the anecdotes shared.