Actor Vipul Gupta , seen in serials like 'K Street Pali Hill', 'India Calling' and 'Meri Bhabhi', was in Kanpur recently to promote his latest show 'Aarambh'. During his visit to the city Vipul told us about his connection with Kanpur and neighbouring Lucknow.A regular visitor to Lucknow during his childhood, Vipul says he would always wanted to visit Kanpur, but somehow never got a chance. "I was really excited when I came to know that I would be visiting Kanpur for the promotions. Visiting Lucknow was a regular affair for me as my bua and phuphaji used to live in Lucknow. I used to visit Hazratganj in the evening. My phuphaji was in the Army so I got an opportunity to spend a lot of time in Lucknow Cantonment. During winters, going for a cycle ride in the lush green area of Lucknow Cantonment used to be a lovely experience. And though I have spent a lot of time in Lucknow, I never got an opportunity to come to Kanpur. But I always wanted to visit the city because Kanpur is very famous in Mumbai for its laddoos and chaat. Whenever my friends from the television industry used to visit Kanpur I used to ask them to bring Thaggu ke laddoos for me. Iss baar main sabke liye yahan se laddoo le ke jaunga," says Vipul, adding, "While entering Kanpur what caught my attention was a huge British style building. When I inquired about it I came to know that it is the King Edward Memorial Hall now known as Gandhi Bhawan. My driver also told me that it was an amusement centre for British officials before independence. I am so impressed with the architecture of Gandhi Bhawan that I will definitely go and see more of it."Coming from a middle class family, Vipul always harboured dreams of becoming an actor. "I belong to Delhi where my father worked with an FMCG company. Dad always wanted me to do MBA as he thought I would get a cushy job and would start supporting the family financially. I went by his wishes and pursued my MBA and subsequently started searching for a job. Meanwhile, whenever I used to find time, I used to visit my friend Danish Iqbal at NSD. Uss samay main chahta tha ki main bhi acting seekhne ke liye NSD join karoon par mere pass fees pay karne ke liye paise nahi hote thay. So I requested Danish to give me lessons in acting and in lieu of that I used to pay him Rs 1500 a month," says Vipul, adding, "I was a voracious reader and would reads books of Leo Tolstoy and Hindi classics like 'Raj Hans Ki Leheren' and 'Kale Suit Wala Aadmi', which helped me in knowing literature better. Later, I started doing theatre in Delhi. That's when I started getting offers for television commercials and later Ekta Kapoor launched me in 'K Street Pali Hill'. I remember jab main apne relatives ko batata tha ki main actor banna chahta hoon, tab woh log mujh par haste thay. Woh kehte thay ki tumahre cousins ya toh doctor ya engineer banna chahte aur tum actor banoge. But now I feel happy that I have fulfilled my dream and my family is proud of me."

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