Anurag Kashyap’s crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur has achieved cult status among film buffs. The film in two installments has helped many actors to make a successful career in Bollywood. He has become a true fan of talents like Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadha and Piyush Mishra. However, one of the actors of the film had to struggle a lot even after the release of the film. In fact after GOW, he had to struggle a lot to find his feet in Bollywood. It is none other than MLA JP Singh aka Sathyakam Anand.
Background of Sathyakam Anand
Satyakam is a resident of Arah, Bihar. Satyakam was not good in studies. His elder brother studied at Patna Science College and his parents encouraged him to pursue theatre. At first he didn’t understand the world of acting…but gradually he started getting interested in the art of theatre.
Satyakam was to take a drastic step like suicide
Sathyakam wanted to go to NSD, Delhi to fulfill his dream of becoming a trained actor. For this he even beat up his father and left home twice. However, he was not able to gain admission. Meanwhile, he joined the Ashmita Theater Group. When Sathyakam failed to join the NSD, he became depressed. Broke badly and began to despair. He was not ready to go back home and did not want to live. Speaking on Josh Talks, Sathyakam said, “Ab rahe ke karunga kya, itna bhar tha mere par tha that I thought suicide would be the easiest.” But an incident changed his mind. In fact he saw a man dying on the road in front of his eyes… After that he decided to try instead of giving up.
Even after the Gangs of Wasseypur, the conflict was not over
Sathyakam and his friends made the film Dvandava (2009) and they decided to hold a screening for the directors and their relatives. Sathyakam asked his wife to help him call Anurag Kashyap. After this film, Anurag was impressed and Sathyakam offered him the role of JP Singh in Gangs of Wasseypur. After the release of the film, Sathyakam remained unemployed for several years as he was not getting good work and was being offered only 1-2 scenes in a film.
After Gangs… his struggle increased as he lived in Mumbai with his family and the expenses also increased. There came a time when he had to mortgage his wife’s jewellery. Sathyakam auditioned for Dhadak but refused to act as he was not happy with the character. After turning down several projects, she was offered Sharni, the series Eclipse, Dr. Arora, Ab Dilli not far away and got love-all offer.