Anurag Kashyap’s crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur has achieved cult status among film lovers. This film, which came in two installments, has helped many actors to make a successful career in Bollywood. He has become a true fan of talents like Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadha and Piyush Mishra. However, an actor of the film had to struggle a lot even after the release of the film. Actually after GOW, he had to struggle a lot to establish his foothold in Bollywood. It is none other than MLA JP Singh alias Satyakam Anand.
Background of Satyakam Anand
Satyakam is a resident of Arrah in Bihar. Satyakam was not good in studies. His elder brother was studying in Patna Science College and his parents encouraged him to pursue theater. At first he did not understand the world of acting…but gradually he started taking interest in the art of theatre.
Satyakam was about to take drastic steps like suicide
Satyakam wanted to go to NSD, Delhi to pursue his dream of becoming a trained actor. For this he also fought with his father and left his house twice. However, he could not succeed in getting admission. Meanwhile, he joined the Ashmita Theater Group. When Satyakam failed to join NSD, he became depressed. Broke badly and started getting disappointed. He was not ready to go back home and did not want to live. Speaking at Josh Talks, Satyakam had said, “Ab reh ke karunga kya, itna bhar tha mere par tha that I thought the easiest suicide would be.” But an incident changed his mind. Actually he saw a man dying on the road in front of his eyes… After that he decided to try instead of giving up.
The struggle did not end even after Gangs of Wasseypur
Satyakam and his friends made the film Dwandwa (2009) and they decided to hold screenings for the directors and their relatives. Satyakam asked his wife to help him call Anurag Kashyap. After the film, Anurag was quite impressed and Satyakam offered him the role of JP Singh in Gangs of Wasseypur. After the release of the film, Satyakam remained unemployed for many years as he was not getting good work and he was being offered only 1-2 scenes in a film.
After Gangs… his struggle increased as he was living in Mumbai with his family and the expenses had also increased. There came a time when he had to mortgage his wife’s jewelry. Satyakam auditioned for Dhadak but refused to work on it as he was not happy with the character. After saying no to many projects, she got Sherni, the series Grahan, Dr. Arora, Ab Dilli Door Nahi and Love-all offers.
