Meet outsider, who once shared a room with 12 people, earned money by cooking for them, and has now become a star.
Every year many outsiders make their debuts in the film industry and only some of them are able to attain the stardom and beat their struggles to live a luxurious lifestyle. One such actor, whose family was once in debt, is now one of the highest-paid actors in Bollywood.
The actor we are talking about became a star overnight with just one film. Though he was isolated in the industry, he emerged to become a star and now charges Rs 40 crore per film. He is none other than Kartik Aaryan.
Kartik Aaryan pursued an engineering degree in biotechnology from D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai, while secretly harbouring ambitions for a career in film. He revealed that he would skip his classes and travel for two hours to attend auditions. Kartik began a modeling career while in university and after three years of unsuccessfully auditioning for films, he did an acting course from the Kreating Charakters Institute.
While he was still in his third year, he found a casting call on Facebook, and after auditioning for 6 months, he finally made his debut in Luv Ranjan’s Pyaar Ka Punchnama. His monologue in the film became a massive hit. As he had limited financial means at that point, he lived in an apartment with 12 other aspiring actors and earned money by cooking for them. He revealed in an interview that he used to advertisements and for his first ever advertisement he earned Rs 1500.
In 2015, Kartik Aaryan starred in Luv Ranjan’s comedy sequel Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, which retained some of the original’s cast, including him and Nussrat, and also starred Omkar Kapoor and Sunny Singh. In the movie, he delivered an even longer, seven-minute single-shot monologue. This film made him a star and after this, he delivered another blockbuster alongside Sunny Singh in Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety and then there was no stopping him. He went on to give some of the biggest hits like Luka Chuppi and Pati Patni Aur Woh (both 2019), the comedy horror film Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, and Satyaprem Ki Katha among others.
Recalling his initial struggle days, Kartik Aaryan recalled how his family was in debt and told Raj Shamani in an interview, “I have always had a big ‘ladai’ with money. Growing up in Gwalior, we were in debt, because my parents had taken debt for their careers. It wasn’t like we were poor, but we weren’t rich. We were EMI people. In this sort of situation, every expense is calculated. For the longest time, we had more debt than income.”
He further recalled asking for money from friends and said, “Even when I came to Mumbai, I’d taken an education loan. Yeh loans waali life rahi hai, doston ke beech udhaari waali life rahi hai (Loans were a common part of life, borrowing money from friends was a regular thing). For the longest time, I was so accustomed to borrowing money from friends and telling them that I’d return it in a few days. When I came to Mumbai, I knew that I had to earn. I was tired of borrowing money, traveling by train…”
Now, the actor is one of the highest-paid actors in the industry. According to reports, Kartik Aaryan charges Rs 40 crore per film. However, for his recent film Chandu Champion, wherein he plays the role of Murlikant Petkar, he reportedly reduced his fees and charged Rs 25 crore for the film. Helmed by Kabir Singh, Chandu Champion has finally hit the theatres.
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