Every successful story has a hardcore struggle behind it. Octopus Entertainment’s director Raj Surani has his fair share of struggle too. Raj and his family of parents and two sisters lived in a 1Room Kitchen about 280sq.ft in Versova, Mumbai. While Raj was 15-16 years old, studying at Rizvi college Bandra in 1996 Raj got to know about an opportunity. Few choreographers were in search for good-looking extras for king Khan SRK’s film Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai. Raj auditioned for the gig and got selected. His first ever Bollywood project and a chartbuster song Koi Mil Gaya.
Speaking about his first gig in Bollywood Raj says “It was exciting to see Shah Rukh Khan and how the film songs are shot. We completed the schedule of college interior scenes and the song Koi Mil Gaya. I did that gig for extra pocket money.” Raj used to get pocket money of ₹ 20 by his father and by doing this gig he got the fare sum of ₹ 250 per day as all extras used to get this amount for their work. Back then it was an important amount for him.
The first glimpse of the Bollywood glamour fascinated Raj. He says “I was just sixteen, coming out of my childhood. And since childhood, I only had the ambition to do something big. But I never thought that I would do something big in the film industry.”
After Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai he took a break from his education and completed his junior college. After that, he got an opportunity as an extra for Aditya Chopra’s film Mohabbatein. He has passed his 12th standard exam but his passion for the industry made him come back. He started working as an extra to become self-sufficient as his father’s health started suffering. After his father’s demise in 1999, as a son Raj had to take the whole responsibility of his family.
Raj says, “During those times, extras used to get paid ₹ 250-300 per day. But the dancers would get ₹ 1500 per day. I thought I’ll become a dancer.” He told choreographer Raju Khan with whom he was working at the time, that he wanted to become a dancer. He worked very hard and got trained for 6 months and learned basic dancing from Raju Khan. After he danced in some songs in films like Humraaz, his confidence got a boost.
He was called to audition by Farah Khan for the movie Main Hoon Na. After that, he got into Farah’s group and worked with them for four years. Raj started getting paid ₹ 1500 per day. He had to support his family and younger sister’s education so he had to make sure that he earned ₹ 30-40 thousand a month; which was a sufficient amount for him back then.
Raj has been a part of all the hit songs of the early to mid-2000s choreographed by Farah Khan and has danced in hit songs like Maahi Ve, It’s The Time To Disco from Kal Ho Na Ho, Jeene Ke Hain Chaar Din from Mujhse Shaadi Karogi to films like Kaal and Om Shanti Om”.
During his days of struggle, he didn’t even have the money to enroll himself into Cine Dancer’s Association and get a valid ID card. He mortgaged his mother’s jewellery and got the money. Once he started earning, he got back the jewellery. He later made sure he never had to look back again. He started working as a dance coordinator and he launched his very own studio – the Octopus Entertainment Studio. He has not only succeeded in his life but he makes sure that he supports other dancers as well whenever they need.
All of this is just a tip of an iceberg. Raj has faced many challenges and came out like a bright shining star and earned the respect he deserves. He has been inspiring many people with his inspiring journey.