Meet Rohit Jasud | Actor & Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rohit Jasud and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rohit, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
Consistency. It’s often misunderstood in the industry that there will be one big break that will make you the next Martin Scorsese or Greta Gerwig or Timothee Chalamet, and truth be told the idea of “overnight success” is highly misjudged too. There is no overnight success, sure there is a slim flame of luck to light up but that’s one in a million case. For the rest of us, it’s always being consistent. One genuine habit that keeps me going is challenging myself physically every single morning for a run. I don’t care how miserable I must have felt the night before or even the morning of; I know I need to jump out of bed at 6am in the morning and go for a run. It helps me build up incredible emotional strength to not give up and finish what I started, my run in this scenario but applies to me not giving up on auditioning or developing scripts or even producing my next short! It’s unbeliavably easy to just sit back and laze around when you don’t have a set schedule in place in this uncertain industry, but just having a jumpstart to the day and constantly reminding myself that this is my dream job, truly keeps me alive in this hunting ground.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There’s a dialogue from one of my favorite films that goes, ” Asaan kiske like hot hai?” which loosely translates to its easy for no-one. That wholly shook my perspective. For the longest time I questioned why me? what did I do to deserve this? only to realize everyone has their own story to serve for and deal with. So no, it’s never easy, especially in an industry of numbers and luck. I originally come from India and with a solid dream to be the biggest Indian Actor – Filmmaker globally. That is my dream to put it out there, and honestly that is me. Call me delusional, call me crazy, but you have to be delusional to look beyond the normal, to fetch for what’s truly you’re calling, what truly is meant for you. Of course, you can’t just say that and sit back, you. have to carry that with you while you give your life and body and soul to this dream. In just one year of my professional out-of-school working experience, I have faced around 600 rejections; have bagged 9 projects and made 2 of my own. S0 yes, hardly a percentage’s success rate but the hope has what kept me alive and going. In my opinion, Acting is the hardest profession in the world and what’s harder is the ability to not give up, and that gave me my first Off-Broadway theatre project in New York, my first major commercial with Valentino and short films that are in for the festival circuits. It’s important to count these small wins, that’s what truly pushes me up towards that “big break”. In just one year, I have seen it all, my first major heartbreak, my first time being broke in New York, losing my friends, not being around my family, the biggest and longest Hollywood strike. But I read somewhere, its important to touch rock bottom to gauge the distance to spring back up, and it been a process but with small wins, being consistent, and have the ‘Get Sh*t Done’ mindset, I feel it coming! Because, time gone by will never come back for you, so might as well channel it for the good things to work on and have in life!
To finish this with a classic New York meet story, I met this amazing person very briefly at a random house party and she reached out to me for coffee the following day, and now we are making our third project together as writer-director-producer duo and eventually plan to open a production company to produce Feature films that highlight real stories about real people and dive in real, raw human emotions and experiences, which I am absolutely thrilled to work on and grow at!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I have always hated being the tour guide, still do. Funnily enough though, my best friend was very recently in town and I feel did great! I took her to my favorite spots and then of course she dragged me to Time Square eventually! Regardless, I won’t gate keep and here’s a rough list of what my favorite things in the city are –

To do / visit / hangout – Let walking around not just Central Park but also Tompkins Square and Washington Square park surprise you; Spend an entire day at MOMA (best 25$ you’ll spend); Visit the Brooklyn Botanical Garden; Check out the New York Public Library by Bryant Park; Visit the St. Patrick’s cathedral (absolutely gorgeous); Walk around the Upper East side townhouse to see probably the most beautiful houses ever; Checkout Grand Bazaar flea market in the Upper West side; Walk the Brooklyn bridge and sit on the other side of the waterfront by Brooklyn bridge Park and not DUMBO for uninterrupted views; go thrifting around East Village and Williamsburg, take a free ferry ride from Battery Park around sunset; Walk around SOHO during the week to avoid crowd and explore cool stores around the neighborhood stretching towards Chinatown (if you are into photography, this is a goldmine) ; To be honest, just get out, walk around and let the city surprise you, you never know what will happen, me neither 🙂

To eat / drink – DO not go to Joe’s pizza, any 99C slice would be better, every pizza place has something to offer, and none besides the Joe’s hype has disappointed me, but get Artichoke or L’industrie; Veniero’s has one of the best selection of desserts you can find; 7th street burger never misses; Give Chinatown and little Italy a day and none of the local spots will disappoint you; Jackson heights for all the cuisines in the world besides American; Shuka has beautiful Mediterranean food; Dominique Ansel for sweet treats and a good croissant; Maman has some really nice coffee and innovative baked treats too; Visit Fanelli cafe, great vibes and food; Lastly, Gramercy tavern, Pinto Garden, Soothr, Dhamaka and Thai Villa are my absolute favorites but could get pricey. To drink, honestly any old run down looking cheap dive bar around East village should be a great start and head to Lover’s of Today after, trust me with this!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So far, I have been undeniably gifted with the beautiful people I have come across on my journey. I would definitely love to start with my dad, who truly is my superhero! He is the only person who makes me not want to give up every single day, because making him and of course my family proud is my ultimate dream. My father is the person who pushed me to drop out of college and fly to an absolutely alien city 8000miles away to pursue my dream of being a part of films. Four years later, he still pushes me to keep at it just so he could see his son live the dream that he himself couldn’t afford. My two Golden Gurus as I’d love to recall upon them from my time at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Geoffrey Horne and Marcel Simoneau; these two men have shaped me to be who I am professionally today. I have learnt an incredible deal from them not just with regards to my craft but my life too! In an industry where being vulnerable is a skill to be mastered and not always rewarded, these gentlemen have made me feel the safest to transform at my own pace and cared for my well being beyond just a regular teacher-student graph. I could have not asked for better creative and professional influences in my life.
Lastly, I am grateful to have bumped into a book this past year which has significantly carved my being as a whole – The Creative Act : A way of Being by Rick Ruben. I cannot emphasize this enough that this book goes beyond just creative beings and coats you with and incredible deal of patience, humility and compassion as an ideology towards leading your life and not just living it. A MUST READ.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/rohitjasud

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-jasud-83340a15a

Other: https://app.castingnetworks.com/talent/public-profile/f509f630-10c0-11ee-8fbe-5d19c377510b
https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/rohitjasud

Image Credits
Pictures by Lisa D’Souza