The talented and veteran actor Amit Behl is on cloud nine as his upcoming film, September 21, will be screened at the Marché du Film at the 79th Cannes Film Festival 2026. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Amit opened up on this aspect and then also went down memory lane.
2026 is a landmark year as Amit Behl will complete 25 years as a film actor. His debut film was Kyo Kii Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta (2001), starring Govinda and directed by David Dhawan. On this, Amit Behl began by saying, “It’s my 32nd year in the industry and my 25th year in films!” He revealed, “My first film was with NFDC called Kuch Dil Ne Kaha. Unfortunately, it never got a release. So, Kyo Kii Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta became my first release.”
Amit Behl exulted, “I began by acting in theatre. My guru, Ebrahim Alkazi, asked me to meet Mahesh Elkunchwar, who was a famous playwright. He was close to Govind Nihalani ji and wrote most of his films. Through Mahesh ji, I met Govind ji, who was editing Droh Kaal (1994) at Raj Kamal Studios. He showed me the visuals of Om Puri, Vineet Kumar, Ashish Vidyarthi etc. He told me, ‘These are the faces with whom I work. You've got too much of a commercial face. So, you better and work with a commercial maker’.”
Amit continued, “He knew David ji from the FTII days. So, his assistant called up David ji’s residence. David ji was shooting at Mehboob Studios. So, he called him there and informed him that I’ll be coming to meet him. David ji looked at me and my pictures and said ‘Main sirf stars ke saath kaam karta hoon’. Toh ek din mein mujhe art cinema and commercial cinema dono ne reject kar diya!”
Amit Behl further stated, “I didn’t have a godfather. So, I was on my way back to Delhi to do theatre. My old friend Anurag Kashyap and Rajesh Jais met me. They told me that a TV show named ‘Shanti’ was about to go on floors. Its director, Partho Mitra, had seen my work in Delhi, and was looking for me. I called the casting person and he told me, ‘We have been searching for you for the last 15 days! Meet us now’. But by then I had already booked a ticket to Delhi and there was hardly any money left in my pocket. Moreover, I was at Prithvi Theatre in Juhu and I was called at UTV’s office at Worli. Since I was short of money, Anurag, Rajesh and the late actor Jeetu Shastri lent me some money. I auditioned and the next day, I got a call asking me to sign the contract. They made it clear that it was a four-episode role and they would take a call later on whether or not they would want to extend my part. I agreed. I ended up doing 780 episodes! I won several awards for it as well.”
Amit Behl added, “TV kept me busy and I only did the NFDC film in between. I didn’t even try for films as the double rejections I faced in one day affected me. Then, David ji called me for the cameo in Kyo Kii Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta. Later, I worked with him in Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (2002) and Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (2003). Gradually, I worked in three films with Guddu Dhanoa and also worked in LOC Kargil (2003), Lakshya (2004), Bheja Fry 2 (2011), The Kashmir Files (2022) etc. I kept on shuttling between TV and cinema.”
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