Vikrant Massey, who tasted stardom with 12th Fail last year, sent shockwaves among fans as he wrote an intriguing post on Instagram announcing his “retirement” from acting. Soon after the announcement, he clarified that he’s not taking a permanent break. At the Times Network India Economic Conclave recently, Vikrant once again clarified his Instagram post. He also shared he took the decision after consulting with his wife Sheetal Thakur. “As mentioned in that post, the last few years have been truly phenomenal. I probably reflect upon the year gone by with utmost humility and gratitude. I got much more than what I asked for. As an artiste, I have been working for the past 21 years professionally. But after 12th Fail, it has really been remarkable. Just to put things into context, I put out that post at midnight because I was not able to sleep,” Vikrant said.
A day after his shocking announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet of ministers watched Vikrant’s film The Sabarmati Report at Parliament. When asked about his stunning post, he walked off without responding to it. Later, in the evening he issued a statement for media. “The very next day, PM Modi and the entire cabinet were going to watch my film The Sabarmati Report. I never thought this would happen in my life. I might be sounding borderline pompous but I am being as honest as I can. The kind of love and reception the film got, I was truly overwhelmed by it,” he added.
Driven by “creative fatigue” and prioritising health and family over professional commitments, Vikrant said he discussed with his wife before taking the decision. “I was on a call with my wife and we were chatting. Iss desh mai isse zyada koi kya hi kar sakta hai as an actor (What more can an actor achieve in this country)? 12th Fail got acclaim and now Sabarmati Report is also receiving so much love. Physically also, I am kind of exhausted. I have been doing non-stop work, I nearly shot 284 days last year out of 365 days, so there was creative saturation as well,” he shared.
Vikrant continued, “I personally felt that it was the right moment when the honourable Prime Minister of my country is going to watch a film which is so close to my heart, I have to better myself as an actor now, to be worth people’s time and money. How will I do that? I reflected and wanted to better myself as an actor. Take a break, recalibrate and better yourself!” Vikrant went on, “I tried doing the same but the problem was that I wrote a lot of English in that post, many people couldn’t understand it, hence I issued a clarification.”
