Exclusive - Rohit Khandelwal: I was bullied a lot during school days and that made me feel I wasn't good enough

Model-actor Rohit Khandelwal, who made his debut with TV show, Million Dollar girl, was recently seen in the music video, 'Bismillah 2' with Surbhi Jyoti. The actor enjoyed working with her, and in an exclusive interview with ETimes TV, he shared about his struggle in the industry, how he overcomes failures, love, relationships, his fans and aspirations. Read the interview to know more: (All Photos - Instagram)

I was very excited because she's very experienced and has done so much work and I knew that I can learn a lot from her. On our first day of shoot, we directly shot the scene because we didn't even get the time to rehearse. We flew the night before and in the morning, we started shooting. We spoke to each other after our first scene and it was very easy to break ice with Surbhi because she's very simple, transparent, honest and was enjoying the shoot a lot. We didn't have those moments where it became difficult. So, it was nice to work with Surbhi Jyoti.

I am done with my first movie which is going to come out soon and I am very excited about it. I worked very hard on that and it's got a different approach to it. Movies have always been in the picture, pageants just happened.

I started my career with TV shows. At this moment, I am not looking for TV but in the future, why not? I am very open to things, I am not very rigid. I just go with the flow. If I like it, I'll do it. It's got to pay good money as well (laughs).

My experience has been very good. This industry has taught me a lot and there have been several ups and downs. Got opportunities to work with a lot of people and I learned something or the other from them. I learned a lot through my first TV show, Million Dollar Girl.

There were a lot of low moments that I faced in my life but every low moment had something to teach me. Every low moment happened for a reason. There were times when work wasn't happening in Bombay. Low moments were also caused because I stay away from my family and I feel like having someone at this moment also. I feel Mumbai was too fast for me because I come from the 'nawaabi' city, Hyderabad. I have great friends whom I spent a lot of time with, they motivated me to push myself. I just have patience during my low moments. I tell myself, 'Rohit, hold on. These low moments are like those grey clouds, which keep passing on. Just hold on, because on the other side of this phase, there's something good.' I also read a lot of self-help books and that help me understand people because we all go through rough patches in life. There isn't a single person who hasn't experienced a downfall. All the people who have achieved big in life are because of these challenging and low moments.

When I came to Mumbai, the moment I would start talking, I would end up using words like, 'nako, tum kya karre.' People would laugh a lot. I remember when I would give auditions, my Hyderabadi accent would come out there too. Then, I hired a teacher, who taught me about the 'maatraas' (alphabets) and its correct pronunciation. When I was doing the serial, my director would call me 'Hyderabadi' only on the set. When you are doing serials, you can't do lines to lines because there are 16 scenes back-to-back and when I had to do it impromptu, my Hyderabadi used to come out and everybody on the set used to laugh. I had the teacher then, despite my hectic schedule, and now my Hindi is much better. I speak very fluently and don't end up spilling Hyderabadi accent (smiles).

Like any other guy, I came to Mumbai in a semi-sleeper bus with a lot of dreams and my parents were very doubtful about what he will do after going there because nobody from my Marwari field got into it. My parents weren't okay because they were worried that I had nobody known here and I would end up doing nothing. I rented an apartment on my own and started roaming around by giving auditions in autos with 2 of my more 'struggler' friends who were there with me. They went back after three months but I stayed back. Then I got my first advertisement with Kareena Kapoor Khan and that gave me a lot of confidence. After that I kept getting work and thankfully, I could fit into ramp shows, do commercial work and then I did serials. So, I did everything possible, pageants was only left. I participated in that and it happened. When I look back, I wonder where did I get this motivation to travel in buses and autos but I had some really positive, happy people around. I am very grateful that I have friends around me who are very genuine, authentic and positive. No gossip, no judgement, we always strive to get better. After getting rejected from the auditions, I got back home, had food with my friends, watched a movie, next day went for another audition. So, that's how I enjoyed the failures. I have two pictures of me of my old house where I didn't have a wardrobe or a bed and would sleep on a mattress. Now I stay in a 2BHK alone. I have put that picture of the old Rohit on my wall and sometimes I keep looking at that when I feel that I am not doing good enough.

Sometimes it happens that I get so occupied and my family complains about not calling but I haven't achieved anything yet. It's just a title (Mr. World). Everybody is an achiever. I think the person who is happy is an achiever. I never dealt with success by achieving something. Therefore, it's never gone into my head.

Yes, there have been many times when fans have gone out of the way to express their love. Some of my fans also managed to get my home address. For example, wherever I go and I post on social media, I get a dessert coming from somewhere. It happens even now and therefore I stopped posting my location now. Recently, I went to Chandrapur and I got something from a hotel. I am extremely blessed and it's very sweet of them to do that. Thank you so much fans for doing that but you don't have to do it.

I am single at the moment and there is no hurry. I feel it should happen authentically whenever it happens. Also, I am in that stage of my life where my mindset is that whoever the person I started seeing is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Right now, I am not looking forward to getting into it because the next 2-3 years are most important for my career. Let's see if it happens on its own then it's good. If the person is humble and simple, then it's good. I can grow and evolve with her. Another thing is that I want to be comfortable, so that I can be able to speak the weirdest thoughts in front of her. It's important to have that comfort and understanding. Of course, I am not thinking about beauty and all because that is the rarest thing I would want to think.

I have been approached for Bigg Boss and the past two years I have had meetings also with the makers. The coming year, if I am not shooting for a movie, I will do Bigg Boss for sure.

I believe that you have to let yourself out to somebody. I don't know if everyone would be comfortable with this thought but I call up my friend and share everything, 'mai pareshaan ho chuka hoon, thak chuka hoon, mai kya karu?' (I am worried and tired, what do I do?) I open myself completely and I feel better after that. But then, I also tell them that it will happen. I believe in letting it out. I don't feel like keeping things to my heart because then there's too much pressure inside and you've got to let that out. Either I let that out by talking or I eat desserts. I eat ice cream. That's how I overcome pressure. I feel better after eating ice cream. It's a very simple thing.

I was a very different person during school days. I feel this is my second life and my parents would agree with that. I don't even remember having one friend in school. I don't even have one memorable day from school. I hated school a lot. I used to fail in five subjects out of eight subjects. I was bullied a lot in school and maybe all that frustration piled up and I started working on myself. I felt I was put aside, not good enough. So, I don't remember anything about school days, college life was good. Studies went really well, I made a lot of friends, and started participating in dance competitions.

It's important to have a very balanced diet because 70 percent of the game is nutrition. There are so many festivals in India and you go to so many places, so it's important to keep a strict diet. During the 2-3 days of Diwali holiday, people eat so much, it becomes very difficult to manage that. 1 to1.5 hours workout is more than enough. Don't exert yourself, sleep is very important. Drink plenty of water before every meal and have carbohydrates in moderation. I drink a lot of water before my meals because at times you confuse hunger with thirst.