Many told me I wouldn’t make it, says Usha Jadhav

National Award winning actress Usha Jadhav, who was last seen in Veerappan, impressed many with her stellar act. The actress who had a major breakthrough with the Marathi film Dhag in 2013 (for which she won the National Award) comes from a very humble background.

She ventured into acting in 2007 and it was an uphill climb for her. Recalling those days, Usha says, “Many told me that I wouldn’t be able to make it. Casting directors wouldn’t even call me for auditions. Whatever little work I managed to get was through some people I knew.” Her physical appearance came in the way, she adds. “I am dusky and a lot of people would tell me, ‘we need heroine material, which you are not’. It cannot be dark and sexy; it has to be fair and sexy. I would only get offers to play the bai, which I’d refuse. I had decided that would struggle till I found good work.”

Usha never shared her acting aspirations with her family. Belonging to the background that she did, the actress says, she couldn’t afford to. “They only got to know about it when I signed Traffic Signal and left my job. My father was not happy with my choice of career. I was getting paid around Rs 25,000 and back in 2006, it was quite an amount in a lower middle class family. He was right in his place. But I was adamant about my dream too,” she says.

Now of course things have changed. Usha’s brother and sister too have relocated to Mumbai and her brother even directed a Marathi film this year. “Anil Kapoor had come for the launch and our mother was like a child when she met him. They don’t know our generation of actors — they only know Anil Kapoor, Govinda etc.,” Usha says.

She’s happy that her family is supporting her choice at last. “They have struggled as much as I have. My dream is to make my parents happy and give them a luxurious living,” she says.