Nikitin Dheer has worked in numerous films and television shows. But he became a household name when he played the role of Thangaballi in ‘Chennai Express’ (2013). The actor starred alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone and carved a niche for himself in the industry. However, he recently revealed that despite the success of the film, he had no work for almost a year.

In a conversation with The Times of India, Nikitin Dheer revealed that he had no work for 11 months after the success of ‘Chennai Express.’ He said that while he received widespread recognition from people, that fame did not translate into his career. He said, “I kept waiting, and I did not get any offers at all. I thought I would get at least from the South if not from the Hindi film industry, but there was no work.”

He also revealed the reasons people gave for rejecting him. Dheer continued, “Everyone kept giving me some or other reason or stories. They would tell me you are too tall, you are too fair, then you shouldn't remove your beard and should have a beard as it intimidates the leading man.” He added that he would laugh at the reasons and move on.

The actor said that he started getting stereotyped as Thangaballi. To get away from the image, he said that he started taking up reality shows, and it worked in his favour. He was a contestant on ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi 5.’ While he did not win the show, it helped him because people and producers started seeing him for what he was as a person.

Dheer was last seen in Rohit Shetty’s ‘Indian Police Force’ where he played the role of Rana Virk. He is currently seen in ‘Shrimad Ramayan’ where he plays the role of Ravana.