Interview: Mirzapur 3 actor Iamrealmohsin reveals the reason behind his peculiar name

Actor Rakul Preet Singh's new film Chhatriwali addresses the taboo subject of safe sex and one of the film's actors felt ‘bad’ saying words like vagina during the shoot. Actor Iamrealmohsinkhan talks to Hindustan Times about the apprehensions he had while shooting for the film, working with Pankaj Tripathi on Mirzapur 3 and recalls his debut with Prakash Jha's Aashram where he featured as a face in the crowd.

Talking about working on Chhatriwali, the actor said, “You may say the film touches upon an adult topic. I play a school boy who wants to question the teacher (Rakul) who is teaching reproduction, just to embarrass her. There were scenes that made me feel bad because of my dialogues. Like I felt bad saying vagina, I was like ‘I have never said these words in my entire life, how should I say them onscreen?’ So, I practiced at home, in front of the mirror. Even my school skipped that chapter (on reproduction). But the film's team really supported me and helped me overcome those moments.”

Iamrealmohsinkhan began his onscreen journey with Jolly LLB 2 and even featured as one among the many in crowds used for Prakash Jha's Aashram. Now that he has completed shoot for Mirzapur 3, that features him as Kaleen Bhaiya's (Pankaj Tripathi) servant, he recalls how he started working with Casting Bay as an intern before they got him to audition for the role.

Working with actors such as Pankaj and Ali Fazal also got him nervous. “There was a scene that required me to walk straight and I could not walk straight. I even blacked out and forgot all my dialogues. Then, Pankaj sir calmed me down, pampered me and told me I am a good artist. I could then do it properly.” He also recalled that a similar incident happened with him when he was working with Sidharth Malhotra during the shoot of Mission Majnu.

Talking about how his paycheque has changed, Imarealmohsinkhan said that he got ₹300 per day for his Aashram stint. At the time, he did not tell his family that he was just a face in the crowd. He said that he had gotten a good role in the Bobby Deol-starrer. “I took a screenshot of my face from Adhyayan Suman's concert and told them that this is all I could get because it was an OTT release. They thought I must be talented if I worked with Bobby Deol.” He got ₹5000 for his one-day shoot for Akshay Kumar's Jolly LLB while he was paid a handsome ₹10,000 per day for his four-day stint in Satyamev Jayate 2.

Imarealmohsinkhan also talked about the tough part of starting out in the industry. “I was to play the younger version of Vineet Singh in Rangbaz and I even shot for two days but was replaced later. They say a good height helps in getting roles, and here I was replaced because I was too tall.”

He also recalled how he had to change his name from Mohsin Khan to Imarealmohsinkhan. “It was around the release of Bhaukaal 2 that internet users started getting got confused between me, and the TV actor Mohsin Khan. His fans started giving death threats to me so then I filed in an FIR in the cyber cell as well as my nearby police station.”

He added, “The person was arrested but I decided to forgive him as I know diehard fans behave as that. Then, I decided to use Iamrealmohsinkhan as my name. I am still Mohsin Khan, officially, but my onscreen name is Iamrealmohsinkhan. Even my IMDb page is by the same name.”