Shreyas Talpade's struggle to buy a sandwich to Vaibhav Mangle walking long to save two rupees for vada pav: A look at these Marathi actors’ heart-tugging stories of survival

Life becomes challenging for all of us at one point and it hounds everyone with struggle and tough phases. Even celebs, who are an inspiration for everyone now, once struggled hard to achieve their goals. Their struggle stories have now become success stories. Let's take a look at the stories of a few Marathi actors who once starved due to poverty and later touched the skies of success, fame and wealth.

Popular Bollywood actor and Golmaal fame Shreyas Talpade is currently playing a lead role in Majhi Tujhi Reshimgath. The actor has enthralled everyone with his phenomenal films like Golmaal, Iqbal, etc. But very few know that the actor faced a lot of hardships during his initial days. There were days when Shreyas did not have money to travel by bus or to buy a sandwich. In one of his interviews, Shreyas shared that he did not have enough money to pay rent for his home, had no godfather, sailed through many adversities to become what he is now.

Popular actor Vaibhav Mangle had opened up about the toughest phase of his life in the Marathi talk show ‘Kanala Khada’. During the episode when host Sanjay Mone asked Vaibhav about his struggling period, the senior actor said, “I never got any pocket money from my parents while I was studying because our financial status was not so good. So, I had to earn money by myself and complete my education. During my college days, the cost of a vada pav in my college canteen was Rs. 3 and at the same time, there was a stall outside my college where I would get the same vada pav for Rs. 2. Even though that stall was a little far, I would stay hungry and walk there to buy the cheaper one, thinking that if I save Rs. 1 for 2 days then it will help me to buy a Vada pav for the third day. My hometown Kokan has taught me this.”

Maharashtrachi Hasya Jatra (MHJ) actor and comedian Gaurav More has become the favorite comedian of many. The actor revealed some shocking incidents about his life before doing MHJ in his recent interview with ETimes TV. He said that his friends, who ignored him during his tough phase in life, now visit his house and click pictures with him. Gaurav said, "I was not earning a single penny during my struggling period. I used to survive on Rs. 100 and did not even have money to travel to go for auditions. I didn't even have a phone. My friends stopped talking to me earlier because of my financial status, but now they come to my house and click a selfie with me. I have grown up in a slum, and know how even a single penny matters. Can't believe that ten years ago, I didn't even have money, shoes, clothes to travel and a phone to talk to and today, I have both car and a bike, two expensive phones, and have branded shoe collection.

Popular Marathi and Hindi TV actor Gashmeer Mahajani recently graced the show Kitchen Kallakar and judge Prashant Damle put a plate of pav bhaji in front of him. Gashmeer got emotional seeing the pav bhaji and reminisced memories of his struggle for survival. He said that his mother could only save Rs. 200 after meeting monthly expenses and still she used to take him and his elder sister to eat pav bhaji. Gashmeer said, "Our financial condition was not good. My mom would do a job and would take me to eat some food once a month. After spending money on groceries and other monthly expenses, she could only save Rs. 200. Still, she would take me out to eat outside. She would always see the right side first to check the prices of the food stuff. Later, she would calculate and order pav bhaji and mosambi juice." (PC - Instagram)

Senior actor Santosh Juvekar has earned his name in the Marathi industry. But the actor had gone through a lot during the initial days of his career and life. Santosh shared his struggle story on Kitchen Kallakar and revealed that he had starved in life due to lack of money. He said, "In the early days of my career, I did not have enough money to even eat. So, I sometimes ate at my friend's house, sometimes at my relatives' house but who would give me food every day? Nobody was ready to entertain me every day, so sometimes I would sleep hungry. Later, I found out that there was a food stall outside the Khar station where we would get a thali for Rs. 20. I would eat that thali there and survive. and if somebody would ask me where I had my lunch and dinner, I would proudly take the name of a famous restaurant." (PC - Instagram)