‘Missing’ 16-year-old travels from Madhya Pradesh to Mumbai alone to act in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah

New Delhi: A dream of seeing himself on television took an unexpected turn when a teenager travelled hundreds of kilometres alone to Mumbai, only to be found wandering around Film City. What began as a secret journey towards an acting opportunity ended with his family reporting him missing and police stepping in to trace him.

The 16-year-old student from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh had left home on Thursday afternoon on the pretext of going to school. Instead, he headed to Chhindwara Railway Station, boarded a train to Nagpur and then took a connecting train to Mumbai.

He reached Goregaon the following morning and continued towards Film City on foot. Police eventually found him wandering unattended in the area and brought him to Aarey police station for questioning.

Reasons behind travelling to Mumbai

During questioning, the boy revealed that he had travelled to Mumbai with hopes of pursuing an acting opportunity in the popular television show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.

His journey from Chhindwara to Nagpur and then Mumbai covered around 900 km. He had made the trip without informing his family, who were left unaware of his whereabouts after he failed to return home.

A mobile police unit reached Film City after receiving information about the teenager and took him to the police station to ascertain what had happened.

Family prepares to bring him home

The police contacted the boy’s father, who confirmed that his son had been reported missing on Thursday. The teenager is now safe with the Aarey police, while his father is travelling to Mumbai to take him back home till the filing of this report.

For the teenager, the journey was an attempt to get closer to an acting dream. For his family, however, the 900-km trip became a frightening search for a missing child.