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Actor and MP Ravi Kishan, known today for his powerful performances in 'Laapataa Ladies' and 'Maamla Legal Hai', has revealed harrowing details about his early life in a candid chat with Raj Shamani on a podcast. While the public knows him as a celebrated figure in both cinema and politics, few are aware of the deeply painful path he walked, one marked by poverty, abuse, and years of rejection.

Ravi Kishan's childhood marked by violence

Recalling his traumatic upbringing, Ravi spoke of living under constant fear of his father, Shyam Narayan Shukla, a respected priest who had a stern, often violent, disposition.

“I was trying to prove to my father that I was worth loving,” Ravi shared.

His father, he said, never saw him as capable or worthy.

“He would often think I was nalayak (useless)... He was a priest. Intelligent. He was a proud Brahmin.”

Ravi remembered being physically assaulted almost every day. “He would beat me up every day,” he said, adding, “Because my dad never spoke to me or pampered me, I would feel him hitting me is the closest to loving me and communicating.”

When Ravi Kishan's mother thought his father would kill him one day

Even his love for performance art as a child became a reason for friction. Ravi would participate in village plays, often donning his mother’s saree to play Goddess Sita, something that enraged his father.

“He went crazy. He told me, ‘Have you gone crazy, do you want to become a nachaniya?’” “He wanted me to do farming and sell milk.”

One particularly brutal beating from his father became a turning point. “One day my dad hit me so hard that I had to run away. That day, my mom gave me Rs 500 and said, ‘Please go, otherwise he will kill you today.’”

Bollywood rejections and Bhojpuri breakthrough

Ravi’s escape to Mumbai wasn’t met with instant success. The road to stardom was long and unforgiving. Struggling in the Hindi film industry for a decade, he often had to choose between getting paid and staying in the frame. Roles were scarce, money scarcer. Producers reportedly threatened to cut his screen time if he dared ask for remuneration.

Eventually, it was the Bhojpuri film industry that embraced him and gave him the stardom he had long been chasing. His rise in UP and Bihar finally made his father take notice.

“My dad started to respect me after I started to earn a lot of money… when I started giving him air tickets to visit me. After I gave him best of clothes, a good car, and a bungalow. One day he started crying and said, ‘Please forgive me. I always misunderstood you.’”

Ravi fell at his father's feet. “I saw God in him.”

Ravi Kishan's realtionship with father

Despite the eventual warmth that developed between father and son, the emotional scars lingered. Even after achieving success, Ravi admitted he often felt like a little boy around his father, craving his approval.

“I just longed for his love. All I wanted was him to hug me once and not think that I am useless.”

Over time, as age weakened his father, Ravi felt their dynamic shift.

“With age, he became my child and I became his father.”

He eventually found the courage to confront his father about the years of violence.

“Why did you hit me so much?”

His father replied, “I thought you would do something wrong.”

Ravi explained, “He mostly beat me fearing I might do something wrong... Mujhe maar padti thi ki ‘nalayak hojate toh?’ He would always beat me in advance thinking I might end up doing something wrong.”

When Ravi Kishan's father died

When his father’s health began to decline, Ravi flew him to Banaras in a private jet to spend his final days. Despite being with him at the end, Ravi confessed he never cried after his father's passing.

“I never cried. I still cannot feel it. It will take me days to get over it and I don’t know when those feelings will come out. I miss him in every breath.”

Now a father himself, Ravi is determined to break the cycle. “I would never teach my kids to physically abuse someone... I still think he could have communicated better than simply hitting me. One should never hit their children. One must talk. That’s the approach I take towards my kids.”