‘I had no money to eat’: FIR actor Aamir Ali reveals why he cried in his van every day after ‘forced’ shift to TV

He continued, “When I started doing television, I was not interested. I used to cry in my van everyday. The people who used to do films with me, if they asked why I was doing television, I used to just hold them and cry for half an hour.”

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The actor shot for a few movies, but they didn’t release at the theatres, and he had to go back to doing television. “When I started doing films, I left everything, because I loved my craft by then. I used to do ads, but it wasn’t enough financially. Eventually, when my films didn’t release and I didn’t get the money that was committed, it was like that in those times. It was already a small amount, and in that too, people used to give 10-20% of that. Then, I had to start doing television,” he shared.

Later, Aamir Ali spoke to several people for work, but didn’t bag any project because of the TV actor stereotype. “I reached out to many filmmakers, met many people, in 2019. They fed me with love, but didn’t give work. They kept telling me that I am a hero, but couldn’t see me as a character, and if there was anything, they would let me know. They still had my television image in mind, even when I had left TV in 2017, which was two years ago,” he said.

He further added, “I am still facing the same challenge. There are makers who trust in themselves more than me, because they also know I can do it, but erasing the image that I look urban or I am heroish is difficult. I won’t get work in films easily, they won’t launch me. They have their own nephew and niece to launch, I am not even expecting that. I just want quality work.”