Wamiqa Gabbi almost gave up acting in 2019: Was shortlisted and rejected so many times

Wamiqa Gabbi has just about got used to the unpredictability of the profession she has been a part of for years now. The actor recalls a time when she faced disappointment one after another: “I used to audition every day almost throughout the year. Normally, you don’t get so many auditions when you start off unless the casting director sends you for good shows. Till then, you get auditions for small shows.”

Confessing that she has been “rejected a lot of times, shortlisted and then given the news about not being finalised” she reveals she almost gave up in 2019.

“That was the year that I decided maybe this is not meant for me, maybe I am not a good actor. I was getting Punjabi films, with good people, but not the kind of characters and roles I wanted to play. I thought this is it. I didn’t live in the delusion that I am a good actor, I didn’t want to waste my time,” she shares.

And soon came the chance to be a part of Vishal Bhardwaj’s web show, Midnight’s Children. “I auditioned and got shortlisted, I didn’t take it seriously because I had got shortlisted so many times and always rejected. Because I was so relaxed, the auditions went really good. I wasn’t nervous at all and thought I wouldn’t bag it. Then they told me to come for workshops with Atul Mongia, I enjoyed that,” says Gabbi, adding, “My world changed when I was selected, and started the prep, signed the contract. I was also shooting for Kabir Khan’s 83 then, so I was simultaneously shuttling between India and England. But in September, the OTT platform put a stop to it for whatever reason. All my dreams were shattered again.”

However, Gabbi says just being cast in the project opened many doors for her. “I started getting really good auditions, and I cracked most of them. That workshop also changed my perspective about acting. I have never gone to a film school. In the pandemic too,, I worked on myself,” says the actor, who is set to team up with Bhardwaj again in Khufiya .