Jugal Hansraj reveals why he stepped away from acting: ‘I was a bit frustrated, disappointed’

Jugal Hansraj became a child star after he appeared in Shekhar Kapur’s Masoom and after almost a decade, the actor started appearing in lead roles. But, apart from a few films like Papa Kehte Hain and Mohabbatein, Jugal could not make a mark in the movies. In a recent chat, the actor said that even though he had signed many films in his early days, they fell apart just days before the shoot.

Jugal recalled that in 1990, veteran director Manmohan Desai had signed him and was going to launch him but that film did not work out for some reason. “For one and a half years, that film didn’t start. Then Pahlaj Nihalani signed me, that did not start. So in my entire career, there were a lot of films that did not start even after I was committed to them,” he told YouTuber Sal Ahmed and added, “I would have done a lot more work if all those films had started as planned.”

Jugal said that all of these films were with renowned production houses and said that maybe “luck” was a factor in why his career as an actor could not take off as he had planned. Jugal said that after his acting stint, he started with writing and direction. “As a director also same thing happened. Couple of films were about to start and didn’t happen. 2-3 years passed in that,” he recalled. Jugal directed YRF’s 2008 animated film Roadside Romeo which won a National Award.

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“I was a bit frustrated and disappointed,” he said. Jugal shared that exploring direction for a few years, he took up a job with a studio handling their creative content but that wasn’t as satisfying as he had hoped.

The actor now lives in the US and has gotten back to acting. He will soon be seen in NRI Wives.