MUMBAI: Hailing from Sewahi, a small village in the district of Rohtak in Bhihar, Abhayendra Upadhyay dreamt of becoming a lyricist when he was 17. When he was 19 he came to Mumbai to pursue his dreams. After a lot of struggling, he got his first break in Bollywood with the song 'Nazar Se Nazaria' in the film 'Paying Guests', which was sung by Sunidhi Chauhan.

"I come from a family wherein my parents know nothing about Bollywood. It was in 2000-01 that we brought home a television. This was the first time we watched films properly. Not that my family was completely ignorant about the existence of cinema, but they just did not know that there is a huge industry," said Upadhayay. His interest in writing came after he fell in love and he started writing poems. Unfortunately, it did not work out and this was when he started writing more intense poems and that is how he decided to pursue his career as a lyricist in Bollywood.

Reminiscing his early days in the city of dreams, he said, "When I came to Mumbai, I was not aware that I will have to struggle so much. I always thought people are going to be sweet and helpful the way it is shown in films. But when I came here I encountered harsh realities of life and my perception went for a toss." After a lot of hardships and studio hopping he got his first break with Sajid Wajid's 'Paying Guest'. Upadhayay did a lot of odd jobs to survive in an expensive city like Mumbai, but never gave up on his dream.

After the release of 'Aashiqui 2' he got in touch with Ankit Tiwari, which according to him was the turning point in his life. "Ankit bhai called me up after six months and he told me about the film 'Singham Returns' in which I had a song 'Kuch Toh Hua Hai' and then the next meeting was with Mahesh Bhatt Sir when he told me about the film 'Khamoshiyan'," said the 29 year old.

His second project with Ankit Tiwari was the song 'Katra Katra' in the film 'Alone'. The track is sung by Tiwari and Prakriti Kakar'. "I am very thankful to Ankit bhai for boosting my career. Life is really changing rapidly and has become better," he added.  

Upadhayay's upcoming projects include a couple of songs in the films 'Khamoshiyan' and 'Roy'.