Meet Vikas Yadav, IIM graduate who quit high paying job in USA to pursue acting in India

The dream of getting into IIM and getting a lucrative job in the US is the ambition of many. But not for content creator Vikas Yadav, who left a US job a salary of more than Rs 1 crore to come back to India to pursue his acting ambitions.

However, the 30-year-old Yadav established himself as a well-known name in the realm of content production before making his foray into Bollywood and gained followers with his amusing videos on Instagram. Thanks to his posts, he has 2.5 lakh followers on the social media platform.

"I was always inclined towards acting and even attended a four-month theatre workshop at Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts in 2015. I also acted in a play based on Vijay Tendulkar’s Khamosh Adalat Jaari Hai," Yadav told Indian Express in an interview.

Yadav said that his parents had voiced reservations regarding his choice to leave a secure position to pursue a career as an actor. However, he made the decision to pursue his aspirations with the backing of his wife.

"I come from a middle-class family. My father was in the government sector and retired recently. So they know the importance of a stable job. However, they have resigned to the fact of letting me do what I want," he said.

Yadav also shared that he made less money per month from social media posts—roughly Rs 1 lakh—than he did from his employment in the United States. He continued by saying that the business was prepared to reinstate him and that he was now on a six-month leave of absence.

"My company has given me the option of joining back in India as they have currently placed me on a six-month sabbatical. However, I don’t plan on doing a 9-5 job anymore," Yadav said.

Yadav completed his engineering bachelor's degree from a Delhi college before graduating from IIM Lucknow.