Saksham Ghai is making big waves these days.
The Punjab native and longtime Lathrop resident is currently riding a wave that includes the Mr. India Galaxy Title, a People’s Choice Award and a Most Photogenic Face Award – all three of which came as a result of his Mr. India American Pageant participation in Los Angeles last year.
And now both Bollywood and Hollywood have come calling.
On Monday Ghai was honored by the Lathrop City Council with a special award of recognition for his budding career as both an actor and a model – an award that is seldom given out by the body except to those in the community who deserve the honor and distinction.
Just a quick look at his impressive resume is all the reason to know why it was deserved.
In addition to winning the awards last year, Ghai recently signed on to appear in three movies – two Hollywood films that will be shot in 2017 and a Bollywood production that will film in Romania at the end of this year. He has been a staple in fashion and lifestyle magazines including last month’s JMG magazine.
In addition to all of his successes, Ghai has also become an inspiration for those trying to break through the acting and modeling ceiling by sharing his more than 5,000 rejections that he accumulated throughout his young career.
Getting an honor from the community in which he resides on Monday meant the world to him.
“It’s definitely an honor and something that I’m proud of,” Ghai said after the award was presented to him. “It’s absolutely something to be proud of especially coming from the people of Lathrop – where a lot of this actually started at.”
The Lathrop High School product is currently being sought after by model and talent agencies in places like Los Angeles, New York and New Delhi – spurred by his recent international successes and his growing reach on social media. Currently amongst all of his accounts, Ghai has more than 500,000 followers that were introduced to him either through his modeling work or the handful of commercials that he has done since entering the business – appearing for brands such as Mazda, Sony, The Art Institute of California, Salesforce, Taken Wine and Kahuna.
Seeing his son’s success is something that Munish Gahi has been a source of resounding pride for the family as a whole and getting recognized by the people close to him in the community – and the community as a whole – is an honor.
“I’m very proud of this moment for my son and for our family,” the elder Ghai, said. “For only being 20 years old this is definitely a great achievement and we’re looking forward to his future successes.”