If Netflix made a series about your life, would it be called ‘Main Character Missing’? Are you the Shah Rukh Khan of your dreams or just the guy who gets trampled in the train station scene?
Why Are You Just a Cameo in Your Own Blockbuster?
Let’s get brutally honest: Most of us are stuck in “background prop” mode-waving from the sidelines while our dreams are out there doing item numbers with someone else. We’re the designated drivers in the road trip of our own lives-sober, sensible, and spectacularly bored.
Why? Because we’re trained to be “good”, “safe”, and “available”-like WiFi in a corporate office. We let everyone else’s priorities run amok on our to-do lists, while our own passions are left on ‘read’.
Why are you still the ‘best friend’ in your own plot, handing tissues and pep talks while your ambitions elope with someone else?
Let’s call a spade a shovel: Most of us are stuck in “background artist” mode, rehearsing lines for a play where our name isn’t even in the credits. We pour our time, talent, and tears into other people’s scripts-our bosses, our families, our WhatsApp groups-while our own dreams are stuck buffering in the background.
Why? Because we were taught that being selfless is saintly, that waiting for the “perfect moment” is wise, and that “main character energy” is for people with six-pack abs and LinkedIn followers. Spoiler: It’s not. So move away from the supporting role syndrome.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm): A Small-town boy, big dreams, and bigger risks. He launched Paytm when digital payments were a punchline, not a business plan. Now, 350 million people use it daily. Sara Blakely (SPANX): No business plan, no Harvard degree, just a gut feeling and a prototype. She didn’t wait to be “ready”-she just shipped it. Now she’s a billionaire in yoga pants.
Globally, we love cheering for the underdog—till we realize we are the underdog. Steve Jobs didn’t settle for being Wozniak’s hype man. Oprah didn’t audition for Best Friend of the Talk Show Host. And yet, here you are—playing second fiddle to self-doubt, societal norms, and that inner voice whispering, “Arre, chalta hai. So, get over the tragicomedy of being the side character. In Corporate India, Narayana Murthy didn’t start Infosys thinking, “Bas, IT mein thoda consulting kar loon.
In the Grand Theatre of your Life, the Casting Couch is not the problem.The casting mindset is. You’ve outsourced the director’s chair to your boss, your family’s expectations, your social conditioning, and that nasty thing called “what will people say?“ (the most overfunded production in India).Well, spoiler alert: People will say whatever. Let them host their own reality show.
Shah Rukh Khan-Yes, King Khan himself. Rejected in TV serials. Mocked for his looks. Said to be “too ordinary.” Guess what? He turned “ordinary” into Om Shanti Om, Swades, and Don swagger.The man didn’t wait for a role. He wrote himself in. Oprah Winfrey– Fired from her first job as a news anchor. Because she was “unfit for television.” Now she owns a network.
And probably your attention span for half of the ’90s. Oprah didn’t settle for being the weather girl. She became the weather system.
And what about You? Still waiting for permission? Still negotiating your worth on life’s casting call? Why are you treating your dreams like walk-on roles? Your ideas like blooper reels? Your voice like background score?
Permit me to state the obvious – you know what happens when you don’t take the lead– You attend meetings you don’t belong in. You agree to goals you don’t care for. You wear titles that itch worse than a polyester sherwani in peak Chennai summer. You stay in relationships, jobs, and cities that smell like stale popcorn. In short? You become the furniture in your own damn movie.
The Supporting Actor Syndrome is the Epidemic Nobody’s Talking About!
P V Sindhu: Didn’t wait for cricket’s PR machinery. She smashed her own shuttle ceiling. Radhika Apte: Mainstream wasn’t her jam. Still owned every screen she walked into. YOU (Pending): Just needs to stop ghostwriting your own destiny.
Look at Elon Musk. Love him or hate him, the man treats his life like an epic saga where he’s both hero and narrator. No supporting role for that mad genius. Closer home, look at Kangana Ranaut. She doesn’t just act in films; she lives every day like the cameras are rolling exclusively for her blockbuster life.
So, there is a way to move the needle from the sidelines to the spotlight. Remember, nobody is coming to rescue you from your supporting role. The director of this film (that’s YOU, by the way) needs to rewrite the script. Begin with auditing your own story. Take a week. Track where your energy goes. If more than 70% is spent solving other people’s plot twists while your own narrative gathers dust, you’ve got a serious protagonist deficiency. Create Your “Not-To-Do” List including but not restricted to:Not resolving other people’s dramas before your morning chai. Not saying yes when your gut is screaming “hell no”.Not apologizing for taking center stage when it’s your moment. Practice Shameless Self-Prioritization. Start small. Order what YOU want at the restaurant instead of “I’ll have whatever she’s having.” Take the promotion without thinking about who else might want it. Buy the red shoes without asking five people if they “look okay.”
Some stalwarts who flipped the script. Indra Nooyi didn’t become PepsiCo CEO by making sure everyone else got promoted first. Mary Kom didn’t win Olympic medals by worrying about whether her opponents would feel bad. Greta Thunberg didn’t spark a global movement by thinking, “Who am I to speak up?”
A quick reality check please: If you died tomorrow (sorry, don’t mean to sound morbid, I know, but stay with me), would your obituary read like a main character’s or would it be three generic lines about how helpful you were to others? Harsh? Perhaps. Necessary? Absolutely.
Motion beats meditation. You can “visualize” your dreams all you want, but unless you get off the couch, you’re just marinating in your own potential. Imperfect action > perfect procrastination. No one became legendary by being “almost ready” or by Googling “Is now a good time?” for the 374th time. Success is for the recklessly committed. The world doesn’t reward the most prepared-it rewards those who show up and ship, even if their PowerPoint is missing a few slides (or fonts).
Your story isn’t a dress rehearsal. The cameras are rolling NOW. The lights are ON. And you’ve been cast as the lead, but you keep insisting on playing the friend who brings tea when the hero is sad.
Fire your inner critic and hire your inner director.
Because here’s the truth bomb: You playing small doesn’t serve anyone. Not you, not your family, not your community. The world needs your protagonist energy. Your full-volume, center-stage, spotlight-grabbing contribution. So for the love of all good stories, stop handing out best supporting actor awards to yourself.
It’s time to grab that Best Actor trophy with both hands and give the acceptance speech you were born to deliver. The end credits are still a long way off. But the question remains:
Who will play the lead in your story tomorrow?