Tete-a-Tete with Aakanksha Singh, MBA turned Actor on her journey so far

We recently connected with Aakanksha Singh who holds an MBA from NMIMS Mumbai and is presently a full-time actor and anchor by profession about her journey so far. IdeasMakeMarket feels privileged to share the discussion with our readers.

Q1. Tell us something about your journey so far?

My journey has been a roller coaster ride since I started working in corporates around 2013.Post my three and a half years stint in couple of banks, around October 2016 I resigned from my last job basically because I wasn’t happy with the profile and the kind of work I was doing there (without a job in hand) with the hope that I would definitely find another one but as they say destiny had other plans in place. Unfortunately I slipped into depression immediately a month later firstly because “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop” and secondly as I had certain EMIs to be paid and I was kind of lost due to the sudden stoppage of income henceforth.

During the peak of my depression I cracked an “MTV Reality Show Audition” and got selected for the show which I think was a turning point as it took me away to a new place where I met new people, new friends and had a unique experience of a lifetime.

Post that though I had an option to go back to a stable job I decided that I will start my journey officially as an actor and thus it’s been three years now.

Q2. What prompted you to make the switch from MBA to Acting?

Necessity is the Mother of Invention. After I abruptly quit my banking job I realised that the offers and the discussions that I was getting from the finance industry was not something I was truly passionate about. Since childhood I was always attracted to the media and entertainment industry however hailing from a middle class background and parents and extended family both either being in the Central Government/Public sector services I did not have any exposure in making an informed career or higher degree decisions relating to the media and entertainment industry. The forced break from the financial industry gave me ample amount of time to explore my passion.

During that phase I was also under treatment for depression and hence to divert my energy positively I joined an acting class (I always wanted to do a course and wouldn’t ever get the time while at the job). So I joined ” Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares” in Mumbai and till date whatever acting I do is because of the knowledge and skills I learnt there.

After the course ended and post discussions with my Acting coach I decided to devote myself whole-heartedly into the Acting field and never looked back since then at my earlier corporate avatar.

Q3. How would you compare the skills of a management professional with that in acting? Is there any common ground?

First I will talk about Acting. From my experience and from what I have observed in the last three years in the industry, in order to be a successful Actor one needs to- 

1. Develop the judgement of selecting a project
2. Be comfortable working across genres
3. Continuously develop your own skill sets (fitness, dance, theatre etc.)
4. One needs to have a good network with the right people in the industry which is only possible by being authentic, having a point of view , treating everyone with respect and adding value while having any conversation or interaction with anyone from the industry

 To be a successful management professional-

1. One needs to work in a sector or industry that you are passionate about
2. Develop the ability of continuously unlearning and learning new technologies and skill sets
3. Develop a network by becoming a team player and taking up difficult projects which often involve cross functional teams early in one’s professional career
4. Also to become successful you need to take up ownership and develop an owners mentality

As we can infer developing a wide network and ability to constantly reinvent oneself are some common traits that one needs in order to become a successful management professional or a successful Actor.

Q4. What or who has been the biggest influence in your career so far? How do you balance your personal and professional career?

Since I have started in this field of Acting I have always looked up to stalwarts like the Late Irrfan Khan, Pankaj Tripathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui and what I have learnt is that “Acting is a game of Patience” and if one intends to survive here in the long term one needs to be patient because sometimes we get credit for our work and sometimes we don’t, sometimes we are paid and sometimes not. What I have also seen with many fellow actors around me who come from different cities and towns most of them put a deadline for themselves saying “If I don’t GET THERE or ACHIEVE THIS in X amount of time I will quit this industry” but history has it that all the actors I look up too have been the ones who kept working and working till they got their true recognition and due and even if they didn’t they always have maintained that “if they have to earn money or follow any profession it would only be through ACTING”. So dedication, determination and clarity of mind is something which has kept me going so far.

Initially maintaining a balance between my personal and professional life was tough as there are no fixed working hours in acting as till the time “the perfect shot is not completed by an actor” or “the fixed number of scenes” are not done for the day there is no PACK UP. Also there are no concepts like fixed holiday calendars, weekend offs and fixed teammates. And in the initial phase of acting when one is really new one gets daily acting assignments or per day roles only and me coming from a corporate background where you get fixed monthly salary, weekend offs, pre-defined working hours and teammates ,it was a huge mindset shift and lifestyle changes required from my end like eating healthy, maintaining my fitness (as a young actor you do not get the same facilities or levy to exercise or maintain your fitness on set as compared to senior artists). Hence one has to manage this as well on their own time and resources.

Also earlier I was very finicky and had fixed sleeping hours typically 11 pm-6 am but now I adjust as per my shoot schedules and can complete my 7 hours of sleep anytime during the day or night. Even  though there is food available on the set every day during shoots, I still make it a point to always cook and carry my own food in order to maintain my fitness. As far as friends and family are concerned I get less time to interact with them regularly but I make that up by sharing interesting anecdotes from my acting experiences whenever I get a chance to interact or meet them.

On a lighter note, often when I am not shooting I can sit on the bed the entire day and binge watch web-series and movies, in the name of “enhancing my acting-skills”.

Q5. Which is the biggest challenge you have faced so far? What are your future plans?

The biggest challenge I have faced is people typecasting actors in one particular role forever like “being lead hero / heroines’ friend, sister, girlfriend etc.” which limits one as an actor in experimenting with different roles or genres. Having worked for three years now I have been really selective with the type of roles I say yes to or the budgets I agree working for because that is how my graph as an actor will soar high up and I will get closer to getting recognition by being cast in prominent roles like a LEAD ROLE.

My future plans include bagging TV commercials, working in movies with top directors and like everyone dreams getting cast as a LEAD ACTOR.

Q6. How has the lockdown impacted you as a professional?

I depend on my Acting profession to take care of certain financial obligations which I have. During lockdown all shoots stopped completely resulting in zero income for the first three months and hence I had to exhaust my savings to cover my obligations and expenses during the lockdown period. This was a very trying period both mentally and physically. Eventually I adjusted to the new normal and have started giving virtual auditions, participating in online theatre and being flexible with my overall approach. Even though things are currently quite far from being back to normal I have resumed with my Anchoring shoots (my earnings are still at 30% of pre-COVID era).

Q7. What would be your advice to young professionals and MBA students?

Go out there, don’t be fixated on a brand or a designation, try to experiment with multiple projects, technologies and teams to find your true fit. Be intellectually honest to yourself and set your own benchmarks (high enough). Remember the power of compounding, apply it in financial planning, learning new skills, developing relationships. Never do unethical things in life because they might give some short-term benefits to you but in the long term they do not reap any benefits. You will fail multiple times in life however you are not a failure if you constantly keep learning, growing and not quitting. In two words I would summarize it as “CARPE DIEM”.

Q8. Which are the current projects you are working on and how can our readers connect with you ?

Currently I do Anchoring as a VJ on a Marathi music channel named “MAIBOLI TV” and an upcoming North East English music channel being promoted by Shri Adhikari Brothers (SAB Group). The readers can follow me on Instagram @ aakankshasinghofficial.

 

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Q9. Any suggestions for IdeasMakeMarket.com?

Just adding to your brand my additional belief is “Diversity of Ideas coupled with execution wins the market.” Keep writing articles/features of professionals from varied backgrounds as they bring a different perspective which allows us all to learn something new.

IdeasMakeMarket.com wishes you the very best in your career ahead.

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