Lately, it has been go, go, go for actor Kartik Aaryan, without a moment to rest. “I haven’t slept in four nights: I’ve been in different time zones after the launch of the Chandu Champion trailer in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) I was in London for an event, then in Mumbai, followed by Delhi, Dubai and now I’m back in Mumbai,” says the actor, who wants to get “everything right” before the release of his next.
The biopic, a first in his career, is based in the life of freestyle swimmer Murlikant Petkar, India’s first Paralympic gold medallist.
The 33-yr-old has hands with filmmaker Kabir Khan, another first. He shares. “We were supposed to meet and I thought the meeting would last maybe 15 to 20 minutes. But we ended up chatting for two-and-a-half hours and I was very excited when he narrated Murli sir’s story to me.”
In the past Aaryan has taken decisions where he has put the well-being of the film ahead of demanding a higher fee. The actor opted to become co producer on his 2023 film Shehzada, taking a fee cut and this move helped to control the film’s budget. Today, as conversations around the rising costs of films due to celebrity’s entourage and exorbitant fees rage on, we ask him his take on the debate.
As an actor, Aaryan feels it is important to be involved in all aspects of the film, especially budget. “Aise nahi hai ki mujhe pehle bauhaut paise milte the. When I got to the point where my fees could affect my film and if I got to know that it is affecting the film’s journey. then I took a call on my remuneration. My logic is you have to know the economics behind a film, if it’s going to be profitable. It won’t then everybody should chip in to try and make things work. It can’t be that only one person is in the profitable zone and nobody else is, that is wrong,” he wraps up
