Vikas Khanna Shares How He Faced Racial Discrimination, Was Asked To Leave A Restaurant In NYC

"This is what exactly I went through. At that time, some people came forward to help me. So, I knew what it feels when you don't have anything."

This is what Vikas Khanna told Indiatimes in an interview when he opened up about helping people during the lockdown. When the government couldn't help effectively, heroes like him stepped in to feed lakhs of people who were homeless and hungry during the lockdown.

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Not many people know that Khanna's journey wasn't easy. He faced quite a lot when he moved to NYC with only three dollars in his pocket and nowhere to go. He ended up at a homeless shelter, where he stayed for a while. He had no blanket for himself. He had to borrow that too, he had earlier revealed.

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He has faced racial discrimination as well. He revealed this to Spotboye.com while talking about his directorial debut of Neena Gupta starrer The Last Colour, which released in India recently.

"That scene in The Last Color where Neenaji and the little girl are not served samosas in a roadside dhaba did not happen to me in India. But I experienced it in the US," he said.

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Further explaining the incident, he said, "I went to a restaurant in NY and I was asked to leave because some girls sitting behind me were feeling uncomfortable. This was after 9/11. Racism and segregation are everywhere. I never wanted to reach the top in anything or anywhere. But I did because I was told I couldn't. I was determined to prove them wrong. I rebel when I hear negativity. I couldn¡¯t bear the thought that I couldn¡¯t break the code of success in America."

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Despite achieving so much today, Khanna remains one of the most humble stars.

"Empathy is an important part. Sometimes you are so disconnected with your luxuries that you don't see these things. Even if you see it, you feel this is not your concern. But when you have lived through that pain, you feel this is me; this is exactly what I have lived through," he had told us.

Watch his interview with Indiatimes below.