Vikrant Massey’s wife said ‘you’re making a fool of yourself’ when he became ‘obnoxious’ after early success: ‘Got PR, managers, advisors’

Vikrant Massey spoke about witnessing fame very early in his career, and how that briefly changed him as a person.

New Delhi | August 6, 2024 03:42 PM IST

3 min read

vikrant massey was last seen in 12th fail

Vikrant Massey experienced his biggest theatrical success with the film 12th Fail. (Photo: Vikrant/Instagram)

Actor Vikrant Massey said that he tasted massive fame at a very young age, and has been exposed to it ever since. Vikrant started out in television, and then, when some of his films started doing well, he began to behave like a famous person in public, much to the annoyance of his wife. Vikrant admitted that he hired a PR machinery around him, but that he gave up on the pretences after trying to live like a star for a few months, because his wife knocked some sense into him. “You’re making a fool of yourself,” she told him when she noticed that he was becoming too big for his shoes.

Appearing on the Prakhar Ke Pravachan podcast, Vikrant said that he has ‘massive social anxiety’. Asked if this is a side-effect of being famous, or if it existed before he became popular, Vikrant said, “Maybe it’s because I got very famous very early. I was 21 when I did Balika Vadhu, and a guy who would step out and have bhajiya pao at Andheri station could no longer do that. This happened 16 years ago, and I still don’t have an answer for it… Things didn’t change overnight, but people started changing around me at a very fast pace.”

Also read – Vikrant Massey left Rs 35 lakh monthly television paycheck to act in films. Was it worth it?

Vikrant said that he experienced a new wave of fame when he switched from television to films, but by then, he was dating his now-wife, Sheetal. He said, “People tell you to ‘appear your weight’, and I’ve done that. I’ve failed terribly. When a few of my films started working six or seven years ago, I got a PR firm, advisors, managers… You have to be out there, you have to appear your weight, you have to do certain things. I tried that for four or five months, and I failed terribly.”

Vikrant thanked his family for being ‘hardcore realists’, and giving him a reality check when he needed it. “When my wife saw me ‘pretending’, or how obnoxious I was on those red carpets, she immediately pulled me up and said, ‘You’re making a fool of yourself. If you continue doing this, I would not want to watch you. I watch you for the work you do, why don’t you focus on your work?’ She’s my mirror, she’s my reality… So is my mother.”

Vikrant experienced major early success through television shows such as Balika Vadhu and Dharam Veer, and transitioned to movies with Lootera and A Death in the Gunj. He experienced his biggest theatrical success last year, with the film 12th Fail, and will next be seen in Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba, a sequel to Haseen Dillruba.

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