Sahil Salathia says Bollywood is like a ‘sangeet’ event: You’re always going to be an outsider who’s clapping and watching people dance

In 2008, Delhi’s college going student Sahil Salathia tried modelling just to get some pocket money. “That helped me open up and be a more confident person,” he mentions. 15 years later, he is an actor on celluloid, a popular content creator on Instagram and a traveller from heart.

Salathia’s acting career started in 2015 and he admits it wasn’t easy for someone like him who came from “Jammu to suddenly turn up to be an actor”. “It was difficult if I had to just be honest with you. It can’t be easy because you don’t know the city. You don’t have the family living here. You don’t know who’s the right person to begin your journey with…When you’re not from a city, it takes you a while just to understand the city and then you understand a different profession. Now with OTT talented people are getting more avenues to express their talent. Even with Instagram there are more opportunities for people to express their talent,” he explains.

The actor started his acting career in the Hindi film industry, however, his tryst with the industry was quite similar to several outsiders. Calling the industry a close knit community, Salathia draws parallels between Bollywood and a sangeet function. “Bollywood per se is actually a family function, where the same aunt and uncle will keep dancing with each other and keep supporting each other. When you come to a business like this, it becomes very difficult because you’re always going to be an outsider who’s clapping and watching people dance at a sangeet. You’re not even invited to the sangeet because the people who are dancing are all distant relatives. Some of them are out there in the open, some are second cousins of somebody, some are actors and then their younger siblings want to act. Who are we hiding it from, it’s essentially just a few families working with each other,” he elaborates. “ Having said that Salathia has never felt uninvited, due to his innate confidence.

Salathia’s last project was in December 2020, the historical debacle Paurashpur. Despite the almost three year long sabbatical, he isn’t anxious. “There’s been a little bit of delay for two years, I have not had a release. Does that make me anxious? No, I’m a very confident person and I’m not anxious at all. I don’t really get anxiety because I do meditate. I do work on myself every day,” he shares. Currently, he has two back to back releases lined up for him.

Despite no releases for over two years, Salathia never signed “projects under pressure”. “The kind of business we are in, we can really blow up at any time.You can be a global sensation at the age of 40. But if you are in the habit of working constantly, then try a side hustle. Priyanka Chopra is an actor, but at the same time she is also an entrepreneur. She probably has a release maybe once a year. (But) that does not make her less iconic,” he explains.