Exclusive! Karan Singh Grover recalls initial phase of his career: It was heartbreaking and depressing

Karan Singh Grover says marrying Bipasha Basu brought a sense of balance and calm to his personal and professional life. In a conversation with us, the actor, who started his career with TV and transitioned to movies and web shows, talks about the challenges he faced at the beginning of his career and how he is in a happy space now. Excerpts:
‘I’ve lived so many lives in these 20 years’
This year, Karan completes 20 years in showbiz.The actor, who made his debut with the TV show Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi, says, “I started out as a commerce student, I have a Bachelor of Science degree and I’m pursuing performing arts. So, it’s weird. I’ve lived so many lives in these 20 years. I got into this because this is what I wanted to do. I’m not a trained actor. I never went to an acting school, and I studied hotel management. My dad told me to complete my education, get a degree, spend one year doing what I’ve trained for, and then do whatever I wanted to so that I have something to fall back on. I studied, got my degree, and completed one year of working as a sales and marketing executive. As soon as the year ended, I said, ‘I’m going to go act’.”

‘There are so many people coming into the industry every day’
Karan shares that he found it hard to navigate through the initial phase of his television career. “It was very heartbreaking and depressing because you have this image about yourself, and then you come into the real world. There are so many people coming here every day, and they are all good. When you go back home after a day of auditions, you wonder, ‘How is it that nobody wants me?’ I would go for modelling auditions, and they would say, ‘Your face is too soft, you should do television.’ At the auditions for TV shows, they’d say I have a very chiselled face, and I should try modelling. I used to go back home every night thinking nobody wanted me,” he says.
‘Bipasha helped me connect with the real me’

Karan and Bipasha met in 2015 on the sets of their horror film Alone and tied the knot the following year. Karan says that his wife has a huge role to play in the way he has evolved as a person. “If I hadn’t met Bipasha, I don’t think I’d be here. She is the kind of person who is in a constant state of giving,” he says, adding, “She helped me understand and connect with the real me. I have another profession (painting) because of her. Bipasha and Devi (his two-year-old daughter) have helped me evolve.”
‘Life feels like a series of experiences’
Karan was seen in Fighter earlier this year. He has been a part of only a handful of Hindi movies, but he has no complaints. “The Hindi film industry is a humongous entity. What is happening in my life and the work that I do is not because of the industry, it’s because of my choices. The industry is open to everyone. I’m not a victim.” He adds, “To me, life feels like a series of experiences which I’m thankful for. I’m in a reality that I love, and I don’t want to run away from.”