Hiramandi’s ‘Tajdar’ Taha Shah cried while describing his struggle: He fell at Bhansali’s feet for the role; He even drank blood so that his acting looked natural

The audience liked the role of Tajdar Baloch in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s recently released web series Hiramandi. This role got so much into the hearts of the fans that Taha Shah Badusha, who played the role of Tajdar, also came to be called the National Crush. However, there was a time when Taha started pleading with Bhansali by holding his feet to get a role in this series. Taha reached the office of Dainik Bhaskar in Mumbai at 2 pm. After some formalities, he started telling the story of his struggle. Today in Struggle Story, read the story of Taha Shah Badusha’s struggle, in his own words… Taha, who used to look after the steel business in Saudi, is originally from UAE. Talking about the days there, he says, ‘I was born in Abu Dhabi. Later the whole family shifted to Saudi, where I lived with Ammi. She used to do business. The responsibility of fulfilling all the needs of the house was on his shoulders. After passing 12th, I took admission in college, but stopped going there after 3-4 months. I did this because I wanted to help my mother. I felt very bad seeing her doing all the work alone. At that time, my mother had started a steel business. After leaving college, I started handling that business. I used to look after the export-import work there.’ I was inclined towards acting because of my mother. Taha, who came to Mumbai when his business was shut down, said that he was inclined towards films because of his mother. He said, ‘My mother loved Hindi films. I also used to watch Hindi films with her. You can say that this is the reason why I was drawn towards the world of acting. I started modeling after completing my schooling. I continued modeling along with business. In 2008, the whole world was hit by a financial crisis. I also gave up that I will not be able to do business now. I could not do any other work while living in Saudi. I told my mother that I want to become an actor. She readily agreed to this and said- go to Mumbai immediately, try your luck in Bollywood. Actually, she herself wanted to become an actress, she had also got a work offer, but her family was not ready for this. Then with the support of Ammi I came to Mumbai.’ Did not know Hindi, learnt it from zero on his own Taha told that on coming to Mumbai he took admission in Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute. When he reached the class on the first day, he got a script in Hindi. Seeing which his head was baffled because he did not know how to read Hindi. He could not even speak Hindi properly. Then he started learning Hindi from zero, in which he was also successful. A list of 600 emails gave him the first break Talking about the further journey, Taha said, ‘The course at Kishore Namit Acting Institute ended in January, 2011. Did not know what to do next. Did not even know where the auditions are held. Then the process of giving auditions by asking friends started. After some time, I started giving 6 auditions a day. One day a friend gave me a paper full of 600 emails and said- send your portfolio to all these, who knows you might get work from somewhere. I accepted his advice and sent my portfolio to all 600 emails. After a few days, I got a call from casting director Shanu Sharma. He called me for the audition of the film Love Ka The End. I gave the audition and got selected. This film was being made under the banner of Yash Raj Studio. Along with this film, I was offered a contract for two more films. What can be a better start than this for a new comer. People used to say- work in TV to earn a living. Even after working in films of such a big production house, Taha did not get the recognition he deserved. Even after working in these films, he kept giving auditions for small roles. A time came when he had a shortage of work. Then people mocked him and said that he should leave his dream of films and work in TV. Taha started running after directors to ask for work. He further said, ‘It has happened to me that because of my good looks, I lost good projects. The casting team used to say that I am so beautiful that I will look different from others, so I cannot be a part of the projects. Now what can be worse than this. Many times I used to run after directors and producers to ask for work, but only got disappointment. Once upon a time, I was standing in the line of T-Series office with my friend. Then I saw that a big director was passing by in a car. I thought that this is a good opportunity to meet him and ask for work. I immediately started following his car. He got down near a mall after going some distance. I also parked my car and ran after him. Then I went and told him – Sir, I want to talk to you for 2 minutes. Maybe he was not in a good mood that day. He got irritated after listening to me. He scolded me a lot, even abused me. He also said that any man walking on the road comes to ask for work. His words hurt me a lot. I cursed him a lot at that time, but today I don’t have any bad thoughts against him.’ Taha cried bitterly when his scenes were removed from the film. In this entire journey, Taha had to face struggle at every turn. Many times he was cast in projects, but later he was removed citing some reason. Taha said, ‘It has happened to me many times that after being cast in a project, I was removed. Once it also happened that the entire shooting of the film was done, but during editing all my scenes were removed. One day I was in dance class, when I got a call from a friend. He told me that I don’t have any scene in the film. I was stunned on hearing this. I was not able to understand anything. I felt a strange pain in my chest and I started crying bitterly. I kept crying for about 40 minutes. Then I convinced myself that by doing this my scenes will not come back in the film. I motivated myself to struggle again. From the next day onwards, I started calling casting directors again to ask for work.’ He started pleading at Bhansali’s feet for a role When Taha did not get work in Bollywood for a long time, he went to the US to audition for the film Aladdin. While he was searching for work there, the whole world was hit by the Covid pandemic. In this condition, his visa was terminated, due to which he had to come to Mumbai. Talking about his journey from here onwards, Taha says, ‘I have a friend, Tushar. He has worked a lot with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. On coming to Mumbai, he told me that the casting of Bhansali sir’s upcoming series Hiramandi has started. Tushar called Bhansali Production House’s casting director Shruti Mahajan and asked me to get a role in this series. I used to call with Tushar. I used to go wherever the audition was held. This continued for 15 months, then Shruti ma’am asked me to audition for a role. The work of that character in the series was of only 3 days. Knowing this, I was in a dilemma whether to give audition for this role or not. Then Tushar and I thought that even a 1 minute role can leave a deep impact on people’s mind. Thinking this, I gave the audition. Everyone liked my work and I got selected. 3 days passed when I got a call from Bhansali Production that Sanjay Sir wants to meet me. The next day I went to meet him. We met. He asked about my previous work and then offered me the role of Balraj. I became happy on hearing this. Where once I was thrown out of the film, now instead of 3 days, I was offered a role of 30 days. After everything was finalized, I came back home. After a few days, I got a call from the production house that that role has been taken back from me. On hearing this, it was as if the ground slipped under my feet. Without thinking anything, I went to Sanjay Sir. As soon as I went to Sir, I held his feet and said- Sir, if I have made any mistake, please forgive me, but don’t remove me from this series. Give me any role, but don’t do this. Then Sir said smilingly- There is something in your eyes. You will play the lead character Tajdar Baloch in this series. On hearing this, I started dancing with joy. My look test was done with all the star cast and everything was finalized. While going home, Sir told me- You will not be in touch with anyone from the entire team, whatever you have to ask, you will ask only Shruti. Many days passed after coming home, but I did not get a call for shooting. During that time, I got an offer for 3 projects, one of which was an international project as well. They were offering good money, but my mind was set on Hiramandi. Time kept passing. The last date for giving confirmation on all three projects came. Despite not wanting to, I refused to work in these projects. Only 3 days had passed when I got a call from Bhansali Production team that Sir is calling me for shooting. This is how I became Tajdar Baloch of Hiramandi.’ Taha drank real blood while filming the death scene For the death scene of Tajdar in the series, he drank real blood. Taha said, ‘I drank real blood for the death scene. Due to which, I started vomiting blood from my mouth while hanging upside down. Blood was also coming out of my nose. Due to these reasons, that scene was done with great perfection.’ Taha has been cheated in love twice Taha also talked about his personal life. He told that he was in a relationship with a girl, but that girl left Taha because he loved and cared for her too much. After this heartbreak, Taha lost faith in love and he could not get into a relationship with anyone for a long time. After 17 years, he fell in love again. He was cheated again. Now Taha has completely lost faith in love. Regarding this, he said, ‘Now I will not be able to fall in love. I have been broken up with twice. Now I don’t even have time for these things.’ Graphics – Vipul Sharma

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