Tamil actor Abbas is known for his iconic movies like ‘Kadhal Desam,’ ‘Padayappa,’ ‘Kandukondain Kandukondain,’ and ‘Hey Ram.’ After a short acting stint, he left the industry in 2015 as he started finding it repetitive and boring. Abbas moved to New Zealand with his family and decided to lead a middle-class life. The actor is now back in Chennai and recently opened up about his struggles.
Talking about why he chose to leave acting, Abbas said, “After a point, it started to bore me. Like how you have problems in a relationship after a few years, I had the same relationship issue with my career. I realised if I was bored of it, naturally the audiences would also get bored. That’s why I decided to do something else. I had to give way to better people and it is not right to hold on to the space.”
The actor moved to New Zealand and planned his future there for two months. “We were supposed to start a business in New Zealand, which will be handled by my wife. I wondered what I would do in my free time if I don’t get a job… I decided to do things I never did in India. In the worst-case scenario, I told myself I would drive cabs. I would interact with people there that way,” he said.
He did many odd jobs in NZ, like working in a petrol pump to a construction site. Sharing about his life there, he said, “I would not use the toilet that was at the construction site. I would instead go to a petrol pump, buy something and use the restroom there. People there would wonder if they have seen me somewhere. I would be like, ‘Yes, I keep getting that.’ Sometimes, I would reveal I am Abbas, and they will be shocked. I just registered their reaction in my head.”