Actor Vicky Kaushal’s acting prowess remains unquestionable, with his performance in director Meghna Gulzar’s biographical war drama Sam Bahadur reinforcing his status as one of Bollywood’s most talented actors.

Nevertheless, casting director-filmmaker Mukesh Chhabra recently shared that Kaushal’s journey so far has been far from easy, highlighting the hard work he has put in to reach his current position. Chhabra also recalled that many initially ridiculed him for casting Kaushal in the lead role in director Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan (2015). “He has been a hard worker since his initial days as an assistant director. He was very dedicated. Be it Raman Raghav 2.0, Masaan or Sanju, I personally auditioned him for these films and hence I have witnessed closely the amount of hard work he does. He used to work non-stop,” Chhabra recalled during a chat with Pinkvilla.

Chhabra also mentioned that many industry insiders were initially skeptical when Kaushal was cast in the lead role in Masaan and added that some even ridiculed the decision. “Arey yaar, kisko hero ke role mein cast kar diya (Hey, why did you cast a guy like him as a hero?),” he quoted them saying. “You can’t say such things about anyone with certainty. With his charm and hard work, he eventually proved everyone wrong. His talent, honesty and sincerity also played a role. But the amount of hardwork he has done… Not just Vicky, people like Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana too.”

Kaushal began his career as an assistant to director Anurag Kashyap in the two-part epic crime film Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) before making his acting debut in the comedy film Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, co-produced by his mentor Kashyap. His first major acclaim came from his performance in Masaan. Kaushal’s career breakthrough occurred with Kashyap’s Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), where he played a grey-shaded police officer. Kaushal is currently gearing up for the release of the comedy film Bad Newz, in which he shares the screen with Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk. The movie is set to hit theaters on July 19.