Coming to Mumbai and making a name for himself in the industry has not been a cakewalk for actor Krishna Bharadwaj, who is currently seen in Tenali Rama. The actor says that when he came to Mumbai initially, he could not even afford a place to stay. “We couldn’t make a lot of money because my father wasn’t a successful actor. When I came to Mumbai, I stayed for a year-and-a-half at a friend’s flat and would hide every time someone would come home. I have even stayed at a temple in Bandra for a week when his family came to visit him. He was a student then and was getting money for his expenses from home. The family wouldn’t have appreciated him spending the money on me. He became a godfather to me. He paid for my acting classes and my first folio. Once I started getting work, I paid him back. I wasn’t getting work in 2004 and I started working as a trainer, which was in the same institute where I was learning acting. I was getting paid `500 for it. A few years later, I participated in the reality show, Bluff Master and won three lakhs, and things became better,” he says.

The actor is following his father’s dream of becoming an actor. “I have been acting since the age of four in Ranchi Akashvani Doordarshan. My father is also an actor, and I have acted with him on stage. He came to Mumbai to try his luck in acting but went back to Ranchi (Krishna’s hometown) after he failed to get work. He did some minuscule roles back home. I came to Mumbai in 2004 and that wasn’t an issue, as my father had tried it himself. He had faith in me that I would achieve what he couldn’t. I have taken a lot of years to reach where I am today, but we had the faith that I will make it,” he says.

The actor says that he has thoroughly enjoyed his journey but it has been a big struggle too. It was tough for him to bag work after this show  RK Laxman Ki Duniya ended in 2013. “I just wasn’t getting work after that. I would be shortlisted after every audition, but never got the final call. Before Tenali Rama, I was out of work for four years and was in dire need of it, as I had no money. It was a really low phase, but what I learnt a great deal from it. Before that I worked as a writer, director and actor. Suddenly, I was out of work and leading a life in Mumbai without money. I applied in airlines for the job of a steward and my brother also tried to find a job for me in Hyderabad. But I decided to not give up. I kept myself occupied with theatre for four years even though money wasn’t coming in. They say everything happens for a reason and I feel that Tenali Rama was the reason that nothing was materialising for me. The adversities made me a better actor today,” he says.