Harshvardhan Rane to release a memoir based on his life

He is only 32. And yet, Telugu-Bollywood actor Harshvardhan Rane who made his Hindi debut this year with Sanam Teri Kasam, is all set to publish a book about his life.

Says the actor shyly, “My life has been pretty unconventional. The Aditya Birla group saw a story in it and yes, my life has been put in a book. It’s written by Mayur Shah and will be released in August.”

It has been a long, hard struggle for Harshvardhan. At the age of 16, he ran away from his home in Gwalior with just Rs 100 in his pocket.

He recalls, “I wanted to escape the drudgery of a small town existence. Any escape to any place bigger than Gwalior was fine. I took the first train out to Delhi because that was the only fare I could afford.”

Once in Delhi, Harshvardhan’s concern was his next meal. He shares, “I started working in an STD phone booth where I had to note down all the numbers that were dialed -– this was post 9/11 when security was a looming issue. I got Rs 10 per day for my work. Soon after, a benefactor offered me a job in a cybercafé down the road for Rs 20.”

Mumbai was always on the young actor’s mind. “From the time I was a child, I wanted to be an actor. In Mumbai, I got a job distributing DVDs. I thought this was a great opportunity for me to network with important people,” he says.

Soon, Harshvardhan landed his first acting assignment on a television serial called Left Right Left.

He reminisces, “I thought it was a great opportunity since Shah Rukh Khan too had started on television, in a serial about the army. I thought I was following in his footsteps. In fact, I learnt acting in Delhi from Barry John who also taught Shah Rukh Khan.”

The young man soon realised that television was not where he wanted to be. He wanted to see himself on the big screen.

The next stop for this adventurous lad was then Hyderabad, where his first Telugu film Thakita Thakita happened without much effort. He looks back at his adventurous life so far as nothing but a series of opportunities provided by fate.

“I’ve seen the best and worst of times. My parents were divorced when I was a child. I was brought up by my father. I fled my home town and did odd jobs, including things like re-designing old furniture, before I became an actor. Having said that, I don’t think the story of my life is in any way remarkable. What is remarkable is how acting opportunities have come my way,” he concludes.