Vineet Kumar Singh reveals his Bollywood survival guide.
Vineet Kumar Singh had a solid year at the movies in 2025 with his role in Laxman Utekar’s blockbuster period action drama Chhaava. He was also seen in Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon and Gopichand Malineni’s action drama Jaat alongside Sunny Deol. However, the actor has had a long road to getting here, even before his breakthrough performance in Anurag Kashyap’s 2017 sports drama Mukkebaaz.
“I used to carry eight-year-old Ishaan Khatter in my arms to the set because I was an Assistant Director on Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi,” said Vineet in a new roundtable interview, where Ishaan was also present. Ishaan played a young kid in Mahesh Manjrekar’s 2005 fantasy comedy Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi, which starred his elder brother Shahid Kapoor in the lead role.
“It was my dream to be an actor. But the circumstances were such that I didn’t even have that opportunity. There are situations in life where just survival is most important. If you survive, only then can you take your story forward. If you get martyred, then what’s left? Nobody would want to talk about you,” added Vineet in an interaction with Yuvaa.
“I never wanted the case that a boy in my neighbourhood is discouraged from becoming an actor because I went for it and nothing came out of that. I never wanted to be that story. It was important for me to survive for that. So, a lot of times, you need to take decisions like that,” reasoned Vineet.
Vineet Kumar Singh then recalled that his survival guide in Bollywood also included playing a body double of Suniel Shetty and even the dead body of Sanjay Dutt. “There’s only one thing: Keep that lamp burning within you. If it stops burning, nobody would come asking for you,” said Vineet. The actor made his debut with Mahesh Manjrekar’s 2002 action film Pitaah, starring Sanjay Dutt. He went on to do smaller roles till he got some recognition with Anurag Kashyap’s epic crime franchise Gangs of Wasseypur in 2012.
Earlier, in an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Vineet compared his journey to another industry kid like Ishaan Khatter. He recalled how while shooting for Pooja Bhatt’s 2007 action thriller Dhokha, he saw her younger sister Alia Bhatt sit on Mahesh Bhatt’s lap on the set. “I was struggling then, I am struggling today too. Alia is a fantastic actor, but when you get opportunities on time, your life can change,” Vineet said.
In another interview with Digital Commentary, Vineet Kumar Singh revealed he was initially offered Kartik Aaryan’s role in Utekar’s hit 2019 romantic comedy Luka Chuppi, but he missed out on that because of a misunderstanding. “I took a little time for it so they thought I was not interested in it. When I spoke to Laxman Utekar, I realised they wanted to offer me that film. I was so surprised. It was my bad luck that I thought it was solely for feedback as I have many friends who are writers, and we often share our scripts for feedback,” said Vineet. However, he’d go on to star in Utekar’s even bigger hit, Chhaava.