Park Nights Before the Spotlight in Mumbai

Urfi Javed, who also spells her name Uorfi, is an Indian television actress and media personality. According to the Free Press Journal, she ran away from home to escape an abusive father. In Delhi she supported herself by working at a call centre and teaching tuition classes, and she still believed that she would succeed in Mumbai.

In Mumbai she found it very hard to get work in Bollywood without industry connections, so she turned to television. She described a period in an interview reported by Asianet Newsable in July 2022 when she had no home. In her words, there was a time when she did not have a home and lived in parks. She stayed at friends' houses for some days and at one point slept in a park. In winter she slept on the floor, without a bed or a quilt.

The article does not say how long this period lasted or how it ended. She said she often thought about giving up during that time, and she credits her determination for getting through it. Looking back, she said she now has everything.

On television she took supporting roles in serials such as Chandra Nandini, Meri Durga, Bepannaah, Jiji Maa and Daayan. She found that work draining, saying that nobody considers you anything if you are not a star or the lead. In those days she earned about 40,000 rupees a month.

Fame came with the reality show Bigg Boss OTT, and then through social media, where her income rose to about two lakh rupees a month from brand collaborations. She is now often in the news for her bold and unconventional style.