LPU MBA student Naman Kaushal recently shot for a Bollywood film ‘Sam Bahadur’ under the direction of Meghna Gulzar, ‘Raazi’ fame director. He will be seen sharing screen space with Bollywood star Vicky Kaushal. Naman also worked in a TV commercial for an E-banking company ‘Mobisafar’ where he played the parallel lead opposite Sharman Joshi, Bollywood actor and ‘3 Idiots’ fame. However, Bollywood was not served on a platter for Naman, he had to earn it.
Like most of the students who choose to pursue engineering after 12th, Naman Kaushal took a year off for IIT-JEE preparation after his higher secondary board exams. However, his luck had something else in store. He got into LPU’s Bachelor of Computer Application Programme.
“I have been passionate about theatre since my school days. I have performed on the school stage numerous times. So when I joined LPU,I was fascinated to see that they have a dedicated theatre club where instructors train students on a regular basis,” says Naman.
Naman joined the theatre club at LPU in his first year, and stayed consistent and dedicated to the club. Instead of giving up whenever he felt that something is difficult, he choose the work harder and learnt the intricacies from his mentors.
“Naman has been a dedicated student since the first day. We knew this boy has something in him,” says Karan Dev Jagota, mentor at Theatre Club, LPU.
And soon, Naman started getting results. In 2021, Naman got an opportunity to represent the university at a national-level competition – the National Youth Festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Government of India. Naman played the role of a leader of the street play team and a member of the one-act play. In that competition, both the teams secured Rank 1 from all the 160+ teams from the entire country.
By this time, Naman was assured that he need not worry about his finances, since LPU provides a fully funded masters to its national-level achievers. After getting into the MBA program, he decided to get entry into the film industry along with theatre. He auditioned for many projects, with the support of his mentors and friends. Since then, Naman acted in a Netflix Documentary along with another student from LPU, Sahil Kumar.
After numerous projects, including sharing the screen with Sharman Joshi as a parallel lead, working with “Total Indian Drama”, and some of the finest short films; recently he got an invitation to act in the movie “Sam Bahadur” along with famous actor Vicky Kaushal and director Meghna Gulzar, who gave the country finest movies like “Raazi” & “Chhapaak”.
Naman’s journey from theatre club 2017 to Sam Bahadur is an inspiration, not only for actors but for everyone who Think Big!
