Mumbai, Jul 2 (IANS): Television actor Shakti Anand has credited theatre for playing a vital role in his career.

"In the initial years of my career, when I had just started working for a private organisation in Delhi, I joined a theatre group, which played a vital role in shaping my whole life. I had joined theatre as a hobby as I really liked acting," said Shakti, who plays Mukund in the show "Hamariwali Good News".

The actor shared that he wanted to do something constructive apart from just doing his job.

"My love for the craft continued to grow through theatre and I continued being a part of it for more than three years. That's when I felt I could switch to acting as a full-time profession. Coming from a middle-class family, I did not have anyone in the entertainment industry to guide me at all. So, I started from scratch and understood what acting was all about," he added.

Shakti shared that theatre taught him different things such as script writing, and dialogue narration, besides performance.

"Learning something new on set every day made me more fascinated about acting as a profession. I actually had a fear of public speaking and taking a step towards overcoming this fear with acting is one of my biggest achievements till date. I guess that is when my hobby turned into my profession," he said.

Shakti added: "To be honest, I gave many auditions for my debut show and my journey in the television industry started after multiple attempts. It was a struggle, but I am really happy I chose acting as it has given me a lot of love, affection and joy."

"Hamariwali Good News" airs on Zee TV.