Actor Dushyant Asthana, grew up in Jaipur, in the desert state of Rajasthan, in India. His mother was a College Professor and my father was a government employee. When he was a kid, he lived in a neighborhood that had vast empty lands and recalls fondly of leaving the house in the morning and playing with his friends until dusk.
He grew up watching Bollywood films and had always wanted to be a ‘Hero’ like most other kids in the neighborhood. Dushyant’s upbringing also influenced his decision to go into acting. His mother was not only a Professor, but she was a Talk-Show Host at a local TV station. Seeing his mother on TV fueled his desire to be on TV. However, it wasn’t until he was in his 20’s, after he had completed his graduate studies, that he started formally training as an Actor.
Dushyant had been training as an Actor for a few years, networking and meeting folks in the industry, but had not made a decision to actively pursue acting as a profession. Everything changed on an Autumn day. He was in his car when he received a call from a Filmmaker friend. He asked him, “Do you still have your beard, or did you shave?” He went on to tell him that he has been looking for an Actor with a specific look, but has not been able to fill that role even after multiple auditions. He asked Dushyant if he would be interested in auditioning for the role. He went in for the audition the next day and booked the role.
He has been designing clothing, since he was a child, and established his Fashion Design Atelier in 2015. “It was a culmination of an 18-month soul-searching journey and a realization that if I really need to spend more time and efforts doing what I love most, and that is to create – clothing and characters alike.”
What do you enjoy most about acting? “ I enjoy a good challenge. Roles that allow me to explore multiple layers of a character. We are all complex beings with multiple emotions and feelings at any given moment. I love to explore these feelings. On the other side of the spectrum, what I refuse to do is mock my culture for a few laughs. I am Indian, and unfortunately, there are instances in recent times when Indian Actors have had to play roles where being Indian or having an Indian accent has been used as a comic relief. I absolutely refuse to do that; to make fun of my culture or any culture, for that matter for a few laughs.”
His next release is a feature film called, “Normal.” The film is in post-production and he is hoping for an early 2019 release. The film is a study of relationships and how everyone wants to have a ‘normal’ relationship while battling through the ups and downs of their daily lives.
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9511923/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DushyantAsthana
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