Vijay Raaz recalls failing for two years in college, sold sarees, worked with CA: ‘I submitted a blank exam paper’

Vijay recalled that while studying at the evening DAV college in Delhi, he was only 19 when he first learned about theatre and started experimenting with it. He shared, “For me, it was very accidental; I never wanted to come into this profession. Life was going on, I was doing a job as an accountant, and was studying at an evening college. Suddenly, I met with a few people who did theatre, and I heard the term for the first time. I was 19 back then, and from there it all started. Initially, my family thought I was busy; they were happy I was doing something. But when they got to know that this is what I will be doing permanently, then it became a problem. My father was a government servant. That time, government jobs were only seen as respectable; even if you were appointed a peon, the government took care of you till you died. It was a fixed thought in that generation, so my father also expected me to do that. Even though it was accidental, the universe was pushing me towards it.”

 

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Vijay made his acting debut in 1999 with Bhopal Express. After that, he went on to star in some great films like Jungle, Monsoon Wedding, Run, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Gully Boy, Welcome, Delhi Belly, and many more. His latest films, Chandu Champion and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, went on to become quite successful. But it was the fascination with the stage that took over a young Vijay Raaz, leading him to fail in his final year graduation exams.  Sharing an incident from his college days, Vijay said, “I started doing theater in my second year of BCom, and then I lost interest in studies. In my final year, I had my economics paper, and I was lost in this newfound love for theater. So, when I got the paper, I couldn’t write a word; I was blank. I sat there, told the teacher to take the paper back, they asked me to wait for 30 minutes at least, and I just wrote my name on that paper. And I was confident that the teacher would appreciate my honesty, but I failed. I had failed in the first two years, also, so I was writing those exams simultaneously.”

Vijay also shared, “I started earning when I was 18. I was working with a chartered accountant, my father had put me there, and I learned accounting from them. It became my profession, and then I worked at several places. My last job was at a saree shop in Karol Bagh. I used to do a part-time job there. I have done a lot of odd jobs. Today, people consider 17-year-olds as kids; in our times, we started working at 15.” His co-star Varun Badola also recalled selling carpets at Lajpat Nagar.