12th Fail Actress Medha Shankr Was 'Fully Broke' During Pandemic: I Had ₹257 In My Account

Medha Shankr, who received a lot of positive response to her work in 12th Fail, shared that at one point she was “fully broke” and only had Rs 257 in her account. The actress, who has been presented with IMDb ‘Breakout Star’ STARmeter Award, also shared that she first auditioned for ‘12th Fail’ in 2022, and during the screentest she had a strong intuition that this role was meant for her.

Medha Shankr recalls her struggling phase

Looking back at the tough time, Medha Shankr told IMDb, “It was 2020, a devastating year for many reasons worldwide. It was also tough for me because I was fully broke; I had only 257 rupees in my account.”

Talking about what kept her going during this tough phase, she said: “I wanted to become an actor not because of the peripherals like glamour, beauty, clothes, or attention. It was never about that for me. I wanted to become an actor because I was deeply in love with the craft and the art part of it. I know that acting is my calling.”

How did Medha Shankr land her role in 12th Fail?

She also spoke about how she landed the role in ‘12th Fail’, the film which emerged as a breakout success in 2023.

“It took me quite some time to land ‘12th Fail’. I started my journey as an actor in Bombay in 2018, and it was in 2022 when I first auditioned for the film at a casting agency. Then, I underwent a screen test with Vidhu Vinod Chopra sir and the entire team. During my first screen test with Vidhu sir, Vikrant, and the team, I had a strong intuition that this role was meant for me. Finally, I received a call from Vidhu sir confirming that I am the leading lady of our film,” she said.

Further elaborating on how she celebrated after landing the role, the actor said, “I hugged my dad, called my brother, who is in Bangalore, and we shared tears of joy. It was a very emotional moment.”

‘12th Fail’, which is directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, also stars Vikrant Massey along with Joshi Anantvijay, Anshuman Pushkar, Geeta Agrawal Sharma, and Priyanshu Chatterjee.

The movie is based on the real-life story of IPS Officer Manoj Kumar Sharma and IRS Officer Shraddha Joshi.

(With inputs from IANS)