From having a troubled childhood to experiencing massive fame in TV; Shakti Arora gets candid about his career, childhood and relationships

Shakti Arora, who was last seen on the TV show Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, recently shared his life experiences on a podcast. The actor got candid about his troubled childhood, experiencing massive fame before social media and more. Take a look at what Shakti had to say:

It still happens, I get stopped by people. There were a few beggars who addressed me as Ishaan sir and I was wondering how did they watch my show and how are they recognizing me. The reach of TV is still extremely prevalent. It may sound controversial but I have left many films from midway, there is regressive content shown on other mediums as well.

There was a time when I had to hide my face, and wear hoodies and caps when I went to public places and still people would recognise me. How is it possible to recognise someone with just their eyes visible? It was quite an overwhelming experience. This was still lesser, when I went to other countries like Uzbekistan, and Indonesia, the fan following was tremendous. I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would receive such love.

I also believe in this that we should show different content, bohot ho gaya saas-bahu drama and all. But whenever we show different content people don't accept it. If there is no viewership, then there would be no TRP and the show would shut eventually. When we go back to the same drama, viewers will watch that and give higher TRP. That is why TV is facing this issue that we aren't able to grow and we are growing but at a very slow pace.

My childhood was not that amazing, I had a troubled childhood. I was not interested in studies at all. My marks were very average. I would barely score 50-60%. If I ever scored about it then my family would party. I couldn't mug up studies, I would believe in logic and answer my questions logically. My mother used to always be tensed that I wasn't studying. I was clueless, goalless, directionless. I didn't have a clarity in life. The clarity only comes when you have someone to guide you and mentor you. The kids who are directionless, should have a guide. Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to mentor me, whatever I was taught was taught by life.

I have grown up with all my experiences, even when it comes to acting, I have learnt that through my experiences. If I am playing a character, if I mouth the dialogue through my soul, that energy will reach the viewers and keep them glued. Coming back to childhood, I didn't have clarity on what should I do. I used to motivate myself with positive thoughts to grow my personality.

Whatever I am today is all about my relationships. When I was young, I didn't know how to express my emotions. Being the youngest child, all of them used to yell at me. When I grew up, I had a relationship, I was again being the one yelled at. When I reached a saturation point, I realised that was how I expressed my anger. Even when I went to the acting school, I couldn't learn anything there. It was my relationship that got me to understand what it feels like to be loved. With each relationship, I learnt some good things and also experienced terrible things and came to know what I want in my life and what I don't.

I believe one should go through breakups, some serious ones where life teaches you some major lessons. Till you don't experience pain, you won't come to know what life has to offer and what you need to learn. We often don't live in the moment, but now I have decided that I will live in that moment and relish it.