Exclusive - Manit Joura on work and life balance: When I'm not shooting: I go to Chandigarh to be with my family, my father is a cancer patient, so I travel to see him

Manit Joura’s show Pyar Ka Pehla Naam Radha Mohan recently went off-air, and while he is using this time off to spend some time with his family, he is also utilising this opportunity to polish his craft.
“When I am busy with TV, I am in Mumbai, but if I am not working, I go to Chandigarh to spend time with my family. My father is a cancer patient, so I travel to see him, and my mother and even my wife joins us.We have some animals at our farm, so it’s quite nice there,” he said.
“This time after the show ended, I went to Mysore to attend a workshop by Prasanna ji. He has even trained the late Irrfan Khan. It was quite interesting. As an actor, you don’t only have to learn, but unlearn too. Unless you unlearn, you can’t make room for learning new things,” he added.
In fact, he stressed that the workshop also helped him become more disciplined.
“There I didn’t only learn about acting but also so much about discipline. As actors, sometimes we tend to take things for granted, like come to the set 15 minutes late, etc., but to date in my career I have never been late, I am always on time, and I am not boasting about myself, but it’s a fact, and it was the same in the workshop. We had to reach by 5:30 am, which means sharp at 5:30 am, if late, you can’t attend the class. And the classes got over sharp at 6 p.m."
Manit calls actors vessels of emotions and expressions who empty themselves when they perform, and therefore it is important to refill it.
“I feel learning and working on your craft is as important as breathing. When actors are shooting, they are emptying themselves, they are delivering, and once they do that, they are empty, so you need to refill yourself and learn the techniques of your craft again. You need to sharpen your tools and be ready for what comes next,” he said.
Manit is not one to sit ideally, and whenever he gets time off, even if it is for a few days, he tries to learn new things.

“Whenever I get an opportunity, I learn new things. I have learned swimming, painting, and even playing some instruments in my time off. A friend of mine told me about a painting workshop in Rishikesh, and I went there. It’s not like I have become a painter now, but at least I have learned the basics and have upskilled myself. All these things make me really happy, and I feel everyone should do it. Why waste your time when you can learn something new,” he concluded.