Randeep Hooda is one of the brightest stars of Bollywood. With a career spanning over two decades, he has carved out a niche for himself in the industry.
Randeep also marked his directorial debut in 2024 with Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, a biographical drama film. However, life wasn’t always easy for him, and behind this struggle, there was a phase in his life where he was battling depression.
Randeep Hooda On Facing Financial Struggles
In an interview with Humans of Bombay, Randeep reminisced about slipping into depression and facing financial struggles after Battle of Saragarhi got shelved. He shared, “11 years out of these three 23 or so odd years I have not been on the set even once a year. Many times I had zero money, and I didn’t know what I was going to do next. I sold everything in my house, car, microwave, and everything, but I never sold my horses.”
“There is an Arabic saying, ‘Apni tankha badhao, kharcha kam karne se kuch nahi hoga,'” he added. “Once, I sold my horse Ranji for a dear bit of money, and I just couldn’t take it. I returned the cheque and got my horse back. Mental stamina comes from the fact that what else is there? Going through movies like The Battle of Saragarhi, where I had grown a full Sikh beard for three years, prepped for Gatka, and that movie didn’t get completed. That was a very low time for me,” the actor shared.
Randeep Hooda On Battling Depression
Further discussing the tough times, Randeep Hooda said, “I was very depressed. It was like life chopped in half because I had to leave that. I almost left Extraction for it. But then I went to Gurudwara and said sorry. Because I had taken a pledge on the Guru Granth Sahib at Amritsar’s Golden Temple that ‘Sikhs have given so many sacrifices, I will not cut my kesh (hair) till this movie comes to its conclusion.’ Then I moved on.”
“After that it was a struggle because for three years I had no work, and I had put on weight. So then I said, ‘Ok, one step at a time.’ My parents were worried. When I did Extraction, I was not fully there. Then you pick yourself up again, and my parents made me promise not to do it again. Then I did it again in Veer Savarkar’s biopic,” he added.
More About Randeep Hooda
Randeep Hooda has worked in theatre and marked his Bollywood debut in 2001 with the film Monsoon Wedding. He was recently seen in Jaat alongside Sunny Deol. Some of his notable films include Sarabjit, Highway, Sultan, and Murder 3, among others. Additionally, he made his Hollywood debut in 2020 with the film Extraction. On the work front, Randeep is all set for his next Hollywood action-thriller film, Matchbox, alongside John Cena.