Samir Soni would sit at the beach and cry, didn’t get any work for months after Baghban’s success: ‘Didn’t come here to be a villain’

Samir Soni first stepped into the spotlight when he appeared as an ungrateful son to Amitabh Bachchan’s character in Baghban in 2003. In a recent interview, Samir recalled that even though Baghban was a massive hit and people were appreciating the film everywhere, he did not get any job offers for three months. Samir said that at that time, he would go on the beach every evening and cry his heart out wondering what he was doing in the entertainment industry.

In a chat with Ujjawal Trivedi on his YouTube channel, Samir recalled that prior to appearing in Baghban, he had done a film called Dance Like A Man which won a National Film Award but following that win, he wasn’t getting any work offers. When he got the offer of Baghban and received a narration from director Ravi Chopra, he wondered why he was being offered a villain’s role. “Honestly, in my head , I thought ‘Sir, what is this role that you are giving me? Chaar nikamme ladke. Unme se koi bhi nikamma ladka. Aisa karta kaun hai? Aur main toh hero banne aaya hu. Aap log zabardasti mereko villain bana rahe ho. Kyu kar rhe ho mere sath aisa? (Four loser boys, one of those losers. Who does something like this? And I have come here to be a hero. You guys are turning me into a villain. Why are you doing this to me?)”.

Samir said that he went back home after the narration and wondered what he should do. “I thought that you do a small film like Dance Like A Man that gets a National Award, no one even watches it. You will not get a big film. Then what will you do?” he thought and decided to call director Ravi Chopra. He asked Ravi to give him the character who had the maximum number of scenes with Amitabh Bachchan.

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Samir said that even after the film became successful, he did not get any work for the next three months. “Even after the film became a hit, I didn’t get a single work offer for three months. I used to live close to the beach at that time. So every evening, I would go on the beach and cry. I would ask god what do you want? I have left everything. If you don’t want to make me a hero, don’t do it. Either you tell me I can’t act. Now that I have compromised that I can be a villain, I am not getting any work. Now what do I do?” he said.

Samir said that it was shortly after this that he got an offer from Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi that became a milestone in his career.