Why 90% Aspiring Actors for Bollywood Fail and Exceptions

The Fact File of Actors: Why you Fail And Solutions

1. "The only people who succeed as actors are those who have to be actors". This is something I have been telling people for years. If you can be happy doing anything else in life, you may fail to be an actor.
2. If you start on a doubtful note wondering if acting is what you should try to do, you will fail. Remember, those who have to be actors do not wonder or even care much about those things. They just go out and be actors because they must do that. If you have any reason why you may fail-- lack of money, attitude problems like oversensitive, angry young man/woman, worrying type who easily gets disturbed, language, diction, voice, height, weight color of your skin etc, you may fail. 
3. Many struggling actors keep doing the same thing over and over in spite of their techniques failing, expecting different results.  Those who have to be successful actors go out and be actors because they change themselves and their strategies, mostly on the advice of their personal coach or some industry guide.
4. Acting is not just a career choice; it is a lifestyle choice! It involves a great deal of self-motivation, sacrifice and continued effort. If you are not a good self-starter, if you cannot live without the common comforts and conveniences and/or if you cannot be persistent to stay with your desire for years to be an actor in spite of everything, then you will most likely fail. 
5. For an actor, success is not fame and fortune, success is an ultimate objective his existence.
6. Lastly, my strong views are:  Apart from getting trained from a school (if you choose so), have a coach (mentor) for a reasonable period of time. If you blindly try to become an actor on your own without guidance from someone who knows the Bollywood or TV Serials or Commercial casting game,  your chances for success are diminished.  
7. It won’t be wrong to point out that finding a coach who is willing to help you and then ignoring his/her advice is not only rude, but also is a way to fail. (Based on source)

Bollywood Super Stars Who Failed to Become Successful.

Here are the exceptions that understood their mistakes, persisted for a long period and changed themselves in every aspect of their craft and attitude reaching to the top:

1. As a nobody, Manoj Kumar worked as a ghostwriter at different studios for films and was paid Rs 11 per scene.

2. Much before becoming mega star, Amitabh Bachchan spent some nights on a bench on Marine Drive in Mumbai. It is also well known that he was rejected by a radio company more than once. Big B was not even given a chance to audition. Many a times he was rejected in auditions.

3. Former BCCI president PM Rungta paid for Dilip Kumar’s tram tickets as the struggling actor had no money to go to film studios from his home. After initial rejections he worked on his attitude and was a great star!

4. As a newcomer, Madhuri Dixit got plenty of negative feedback from the industry. Even then reigning star Meenakshi Sheshadri was among those would feel Madhuri did not have it in her material to succeed in Bollywood.

5. After tasting failures in her initially, Zeenat Aman was ready to pack her bag and return to Germany with her mother. She analyzed herself as per a coach and then it happened. She was selected in ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ (1972. The rest is a history!

6. Dharmendra was the winner of a talent hunt, yet he had to bear extreme hardships for a year till ‘Bandini’ came his way. There were numerous days when Dharmendra did not even have a morsel of food, it has been reported. Another story goes that a producer once refused to pay for Dharmendra's taxi fare (His attitude?), following which the actor got very upset. Shashi Kapoor then took him home, and they had lunch.

7. Amjad Khan slogged for 10 years, did some insignificant roles and had virtually no money when ‘Sholay’ came his way in 1973. The day Khan signed the film, his son Shadaab was born. There were also stories that Salim-Javed were unhappy with Amjad’s performance and wanted him replaced. Khan survived all that and went on to create.

8. Sanjeev Kumar, who is rated amongst the greatest actors of Indian cinema, had failed a screen test conducted for a Rajshri film. He was part of numerous C-grade stunt films before turning the tide with some amazement.

9. At a recent event, Shah Rukh Khan revealed that he had to struggle for 20 years to get his super hit. When he came to Mumbai he did not have money to eat. He even slept on the roads for many days near Oberoi Hotel. He and his friends used the Oberoi washroom, behaving as they stayed at the hotel itself. SRK also recalled that in those days he did not even know that there was Mumbai beyond Haji Ali.

10. Govinda, who used to stay in a Chawl in Virar, would go to Rajshri Studio every day, but was rejected on the basis of being too young and with a bad diction. Not disheartened, On an advice from an expert (Coach), Govinda  made a show reel in which he was seen acting and dancing, and showed it to the production house.
Source