Mumbai, Jun 25 (IANS): Actor Gagan Arora, who portrays the role of an ambitious screenwriter in the drama series 'Industry', reminisces about his struggling days, sharing insights into his initial journey as an assistant director.

Gagan began his career as an assistant director on Amar Kaushik's 2018 comedy horror film 'Stree', produced by Dinesh Vijan and Raj & DK, featuring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles.

The young actor then made his acting debut in The Viral Fever's web series 'College Romance' in 2018. Gagan played the role of Bagga in the show, which also starred Keshav Sadhna, Apoorva Arora, Manjot Singh, and Shreya Mehta.

Reflecting on his struggling days, Gagan, who portrays Aayush Verma in 'Industry', shared: "I think my struggling days have taught me the biggest life lessons. Those were the days when I understood the true nature of the industry. The harsh reality is that once you become successful, things change."

"But one truly gets to know how the industry works during their struggling days. I started my journey as an assistant director. I have always been very fond of every aspect of the art of filmmaking. It has helped me keep my spirits high during testing times," said Gagan, who has been part of projects like 'Ujda Chaman', 'Girls Hostel', and 'Tabbar'.

Gagan further added: "My partner, my family, and my friends have selflessly helped me navigate my initial days of struggle. They have been the biggest pillars of support through my hardships. It made me realise that having your loved ones by your side does take you a long way."

Set in Mumbai, the show revolves around aspiring screenwriter Ayush Varma (Gagan Arora) navigating the film industry. It also stars Chunky Panday, Guneet Monga, Ankita Goraya, Kunal Kapoor, Abhishek Banerjee, Amit Masurkar, Suparn Verma, Sunit Roy, Sumit Arora, and Prosit Roy in pivotal roles.

Produced by TVF, 'Industry' is streaming on Amazon miniTV.