Anshuman Jha opens up about choosing acting over an IAS career, fatherhood, his late father and why Om Ka Hari is deeply personal

Updated on: Sep 22, 2026, 16:37:18 IST

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Actor-director Anshuman Jha, known for Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010), has never been one to follow the conventional route. Jha reflects on the choices that have shaped his journey so far.

For Anshuman, acting was never a fallback. Even when his mother wanted him to pursue a conventional career and become an IAS officer, he was certain about choosing the stage and screen. “I wanted to become an actor. My mother wanted me to become an IAS officer, and she was right, I would have, but I wanted to pursue acting,” he recalls.

His decision was not always easy. Asked to take science in Class 11, Jha deliberately left his first unit-test papers blank. “My principal actually called my mother and said, ‘Why aren't you letting him just do arts?’” Eventually, he got into St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, after initially missing the first list. “Luckily, I made the second list at Xavier's, and then I got the licence to move to Bombay. And then the rest, as they say, is history.”

Years later, Jha says fatherhood has given him a different perspective on life. He and his wife have taken an unconventional approach to their daughter’s early education. He recalls reading the Bhagavad Gita to her before she was born, and says she has now begun reading it with him. “She's reading the Bible, then she'll read the Quran. We are trying — now we are on the Bible. The aim is that by the time she's five, she should have read once at least all these basic books.”

For Jha, fatherhood is ultimately about the simplest moments. “Fatherhood is the best thing that has happened and I'm just very grateful. Every morning she wakes up with a big smile and it reminds us that that's what we need to do.”

That understanding of parenthood has also made his upcoming film Om Ka Hari, a father-son drama comedy co-starring Raghubir Yadav, particularly personal. Jha says he did not spend much time with his father, who travelled frequently, but they shared a close and open relationship. His father died in 2020, and the last message he sent Jha was about a film he wanted him to watch.

“He saw a movie called Lucy, and he knew I love action movies, so his last message to me is ‘Watch Lucy.’”

Jha says his biggest regret is that he never got to tell his father how much he loved him. “I never got a chance to say I love you to him.”

When the script of Om Ka Hari came to him in 2022, that emotional connection immediately drew him in. “There must be so many men and women who have had a relationship with their dad, but never got a chance to say, ‘I love you’ to them. This film is very special on that regard for me.” Having Raghubir Yadav play his father made the experience even more meaningful, particularly because Jha’s late mother had encouraged him to work with the veteran actor.

Looking back at his own journey, Jha sees struggle not as an obstacle but as an essential part of growth. “You can be your best version only if you struggle.” He remains firmly against keeping acting as a backup option. “And again, unpopular opinion, you should never have a backup plan. A lot of actors don't make it because they have a backup plan. You need to jump into the ocean and think deep. Shallow waters never make great swimmers.”

His curiosity extends beyond acting. Jha says he would happily return to being an assistant director to learn from filmmakers he admires. “I'm a great assistant director. I love being on a film set. Like if tomorrow Zoya Akhtar allows me to be her assistant, I will go and assist her. I have zero ego. I would love to be her assistant and learn from her.”

Next, he is preparing for Lakadbaggha 3, which he says will demand a significant physical transformation. “What I'm trying to do there is physically so demanding,” he says, adding that actors owe it to audiences who spend their hard-earned money on films. “People are paying ₹400, ₹500 to see you, and that's their hard-earned money. So you owe it to them.”

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