Exclusive! THIS person told Govinda Naam Mera actor Viraj Ghelani that he will make him famous

Digital content creator-turned-actor Viraj Ghelani, who plays a pivotal part in the upcoming Vicky Kaushal, Kiara Advani and Bhumi Pednekar-starrer Govinda Naam Mera, shares how a quick chat with celebrated casting director Mukesh Chhabra turned into a beautiful opportunity that opened doors for him in Bollywood.

Viraj told OTTplay, "I met Mukesh sir for the first time in Kolkata during a panel discussion on digital content creation and picking talent from different spaces. It was an interesting discussion and many prominent people were present, including those from the fields of marketing, ads, creative content, cinema and casting. Sir (Mukesh) was there from film and casting of course, and I was humbly present there as a digital content creator."

He added, "Post the discussion, sir told me, 'Viraj, you are doing good content. I have seen your work. Beta, ek din main tujhe famous banaunga (One day, I will make you famous). I thought that he was saying that just to encourage me as a youngster, because he is such a big casting director." 

But to his surprise, Viraj received a call from Mukesh's office for real and the man who called him and asked for the audition had a hard time convincing Viraj that it was indeed a real audition call.

"I did not think that I was being called to audition for a film produced by Karan Johar for real. For the next 10 days, I did not give the audition, but Utsav, the fellow who was coordinating everything, convinced me. When I was finalised, Mukesh sir called me and said, 'Dekha, kaha tha na ki tere liye kuch bada break hai mere paas (see, I told you that I have a big break for you)'. I was so overwhelmed and could not thank him enough, because this is life changing for me. I am forever grateful to Mukesh sir for this," shared Viraj with a lot of emotion in his voice.

This is not the first time that Mukesh has discovered talent. He has discovered some of the finest actors of the current generation, be it Rajkummar Rao in Shahid, Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra in Dangal, and several other actors who are now ruling the film industry.

Govinda Naam Mera is directed by Shashank Khaitan and also features Sayaji Shinde, Dayanand Shetty and Amey Wagh. It is releasing on December 16 on Disney+ Hotstar.