After spending nearly five years in the shadows, actor Lakshya has finally carved a space for himself in the Hindi film industry. His debut film — Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s blood-soaked action thriller Kill
— put him on the map as one of Bollywood’s most promising new faces. This was swiftly followed by his streaming debut in Aryan Khan’s Netflix series The Ba*ds of Bollywood, which further cemented his credibility as an actor capable of both intensity and restraint.
But before the success, there was silence. And before the applause, a long, lonely wait.
“I Just Let It Happen”: Lakshya on the Films That Never Released
After leading Sony TV’s historical epic Porus till 2018, Lakshya’s transition from television to cinema seemed destined for greatness. He auditioned for months before landing a coveted three-film deal with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions — a dream for any newcomer. But dreams, as he soon discovered, don’t always unfold as planned.
Two of those films — the romantic drama Bedhadak opposite Shanaya Kapoor, and Collin D’Cunha’s rom-com Dostana 2 with Kartik Aaryan and Janhvi Kapoor — were shelved after going on floors. For many, it would’ve been devastating. For Lakshya, it became a lesson in acceptance, “I just told myself, it’s not your fault,” Lakshya recalled on Raj Shamani’s podcast. “Your job is to wake up, do your voice training, read your scenes, go to the gym, watch movies, and keep doing what you have been doing. Don’t change your routine.”
The cancellations left him numb but not broken. “I was blank. I just let it happen. Luckily, I never had self-doubt. I had no plans of becoming an actor; it just happened to me. The only thing I knew was hard work. So why should I stop doing that? Who do I blame — God or Karan Johar? I can’t blame anyone. The film got shelved, that’s it. I believed it was happening for a reason. Tables would turn one day.”
On Choosing Passion Over Security
At a time when Lakshya could have comfortably stayed in television, he chose uncertainty over comfort. He was offered another show after Porus, one that paid between ₹20,000–25,000 per day — a lucrative offer by any standard. His father, based in Delhi, urged him to take it, “My father said, ‘That’s a lot of money. I’ve never seen that kind of money in my life. Just grab it.’ But there was a stubbornness within me,” Lakshya said. “Why could I not become a movie star? What do I lack? This one’s doing it, that one’s doing it — so why couldn’t I?”
That determination, he says, came from a quiet conviction rather than defiance. It was about knowing what he wanted, even when no one else could see it yet.
“Television Had Reached Its Saturation Point for Me”
Lakshya admits that by the end of Porus, he had exhausted every creative possibility television could offer him, “I’d done everything in that show — every emotion an actor can possibly perform,” he reflected. “The quality in TV was decreasing. Porus also got derailed from its track. The medium is like that. A good film takes over two years to write, but on television, you have to come up with something every day. That’s why the shows become cringe after a point.”
That honesty — and his refusal to settle — paid off in the long run. From being a face audiences recognized on TV to becoming a performer critics now praise for Kill and The Ba*ds of Bollywood, Lakshya’s story is one of patience, perseverance, and unshakable self-belief, “There wasn’t a single day throughout Covid when I didn’t work hard,” he said. “It was tough, but I always knew — one day, it would all make sense.”
