In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla recently, Gurmeet Choudhary recalled meeting legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra in the initial days of his career. “One day I got Yash ji’s number from somewhere, and I was pretty new in the industry back then. I had done some courses, and it had only been three or four months. I directly called him from a landline number, because back then mobile phone calls used to be expensive, and it was important to save money. So I called him from a landline number and he even answered the call. I told him that I am an actor, wanted to meet him, and was a fan of his. So he said, ‘Bachche aa ja Yash Raj mein’,” shares Gurmeet.
The Khamoshiyan actor met Yash Chopra the next day in the latter’s office. “It is because of him that I have reached here today. I still remember his advice. He had said, ‘If you want to become a film actor, then do TV. Become such a big star in television, that producers and directors would cast you in films from there, how it had happened with Shah Rukh’. He gave me Shah Rukh’s (Shah Rukh Khan) example. So that got stuck in my head, because someone like Yash Chopra was giving me that advice. Since then I took TV so seriously, worked for three to four years in the medium, and worked really hard,” says the actor.
Gurmeet Choudhary further adds, “Koi ek aisa scene nai hota tha, jahan lagta tha ki yaar kal acha kar denge. Because I used to feel that Yash ji has said, ‘What if some director or producer sees your work, and casts you in films’. And actually it happened like that. Few years later, after I made a name for myself in the TV industry, Mukesh Bhatt sir’s wife Neelu aunty saw me on TV and suggested my name for a film. Then we met at an award function, and that’s how I came into films.”
To see the full interview, watch the below video: