By Khizra Khan
In an episode of Mauve’s Happened Over Coffee, host Priya Lalwani sits down with actor Akshay Poptani for a candid conversation about his journey in Bollywood, the making of Dua Qubool, working alongside veteran actress Farida Jalal and the everyday hustle of building a career in the film industry.
There is a version of Bollywood that audiences see.
The premieres.
The cameras.
The posters.
The finished films.
And then there is the Bollywood that happens long before any of that.
The auditions.
The waiting.
The repeated rejections.
The uncertainty of not knowing when the next opportunity will arrive.
For actor Akshay Poptani, the journey has included all of it.
From his recent film Dua Qubool to earlier appearances in Dharavi Bank and Four More Shots Please!, Akshay speaks openly about the hustle, the people who supported him and the one quality he believes sits at the heart of acting: honesty.
When a Five-Minute Idea Became a Feature Film
The story of Dua Qubool is, in many ways, a story about persistence.
What began as a five-minute short film concept written by director Manohar Iyer eventually transformed into a full-length feature film running approximately one hour and forty-five minutes.
But the journey from an idea to a finished film was anything but straightforward.
The project faced struggles with production and funding, forcing the team to keep pushing forward even when bringing the film to life seemed difficult.
For a project that started small, the ambition grew.
The concept became a feature.
The feature became a completed film.
And eventually, Dua Qubool found its audience with its release on Hungama OTT in 2025.
Behind that final release is a part of filmmaking audiences rarely get to see the persistence required to keep a project alive when there are financial, logistical and production hurdles at almost every stage.
For Akshay, being part of that journey meant understanding that sometimes getting a film made is an achievement in itself.
Sharing the Screen With Farida Jalal
One of the most memorable parts of Akshay’s experience on Dua Qubool was working alongside veteran actress Farida Jalal.
For an actor, sharing a set with someone who has spent decades in the industry can be an education in itself.
Akshay describes her as an “acting school” in her own right.
What particularly struck him was the ease with which she moved between her on-screen character and her off-screen personality.
The emotional intensity required for a scene could exist alongside a grounded, professional presence once the cameras stopped rolling.
That contrast offered Akshay a valuable lesson.
Acting may look effortless when it is done well.
But behind that effortlessness is years of experience, discipline and understanding.
Working with someone like Farida Jalal becomes more than simply sharing a scene.
It becomes an opportunity to observe.
To learn.
To understand what decades in front of the camera can teach an actor about restraint, emotion and authenticity.
Bollywood’s Biggest Role: The Hustle
Akshay’s journey also includes appearances in projects such as Dharavi Bank and Four More Shots Please!.
But behind those credits is a much less glamorous reality.
The everyday hustle of Mumbai.
For aspiring actors, the city can be a place of endless possibilities and endless auditions.
You show up.
You audition.
You wait.
Sometimes you get the role.
More often, you hear no.
And then you do it all again.
Akshay speaks about the emotional challenge of repeatedly being told that you are not the right fit for something.
For an actor, rejection can feel intensely personal.
Because an audition is not simply a CV being evaluated.
You are putting your appearance, voice, personality and ability in front of someone and asking them to imagine you as a character.
When the answer is no, it can be difficult not to internalise it.
But surviving in the industry requires learning to separate rejection from self-worth.
One role not working does not mean the journey has stopped.
It simply means there is another audition ahead.
The Art of Hearing “No” and Showing Up Again
The entertainment industry has a unique relationship with rejection.
An actor can be talented and still not get a role.
The casting may require a different age.
A different look.
A different personality.
A different interpretation of the character.
Sometimes, it may simply come down to something completely outside the actor’s control.
That is why the ability to continue becomes as important as the ability to perform.
Akshay’s journey reflects this reality.
The hustle is not a phase you complete before becoming successful.
It is often part of the profession itself.
Even after getting work, there are new auditions, new roles and new uncertainties.
The challenge is to keep improving without allowing every rejection to become a verdict on your ability.
The People Behind the Dream
While acting is an individual performance, Akshay is clear about one thing: his journey has never been a one-person story.
His parents and siblings have played an important role throughout his career.
From helping him prepare for modelling events to supporting him through auditions, his family has been present through different stages of the journey.
That support matters enormously in a profession where certainty is rare.
When the next project is not guaranteed, having people who continue to believe in you can become its own form of strength.
For Akshay, family support has been more than encouragement.
It has been part of the infrastructure that allowed him to keep pursuing the career he wanted.
Acting, According to Akshay Poptani
Towards the end of the conversation, Priya asks Akshay to define acting in one word.
His answer is simple:
“Acting is all about being honest to yourself.”
It is perhaps the most revealing statement in the entire conversation.
Because acting is often thought of as pretending to be someone else.
But great acting requires something almost contradictory.
You have to find the truth within the character.
You have to understand an emotion rather than simply display it.
And you have to bring something real from yourself to the performance.
The audience may see a fictional character.
But the emotion has to feel genuine.
That is where honesty comes in.
The Making of an Actor Happens Between the Credits
Akshay Poptani’s story is not simply about the projects that appear on his filmography.
It is about everything that happens between them.
The auditions that do not work.
The roles that do.
The days spent waiting.
The lessons learned on set.
The people who stand behind you.
And the decision to continue pursuing the craft even when the path ahead is uncertain.
Dua Qubool is one milestone in that journey.
But perhaps its story mirrors Akshay’s own career in an interesting way.
It began as something small.
It faced obstacles.
It required persistence.
And eventually, it found its way to an audience.
The same could be said about many acting careers.
They do not arrive fully formed.
They are built role by role, audition by audition, rejection by rejection.
And somewhere along the way, the actor learns that success is not just about being chosen.
It is about continuing to show up until the right role finds you.
The Camera Only Sees the Final Moment
When audiences watch an actor on screen, they see the finished performance.
They do not see the audition that came before it.
They do not see the rejection that preceded the opportunity.
They do not see the family members who encouraged the actor to keep going.
They do not see the uncertainty behind the scenes.
Akshay Poptani’s conversation with Priya Lalwani offers a glimpse into that unseen side of the profession.
It is a reminder that behind every screen credit is a person who had to keep believing in the possibility of the next one.
And perhaps that is what makes his definition of acting so fitting.
To act is to be honest.
But to build a career in acting, you also have to be honest about the journey.
It is difficult.
It is unpredictable.
It involves rejection.
And yet, for those who genuinely love the craft, it remains worth pursuing.
Because sometimes the biggest part of becoming an actor is not learning how to perform when the camera is on.
It is learning how to keep going when it is not.
This conversation with actor Akshay Poptani, discussing his journey, his work in Dua Qubool and his experiences in the Bollywood industry, is featured on Mauve’s Happened Over Coffee, hosted by Priya Lalwani, founder of Mauve.
