Jaideep Ahlawat laughs at reports of him charging ₹20 crore for Paatal Lok 2: 'Hai kahan ye paisa, gaya kahan'

Jaideep Ahlawat busts some myths and talks about his journey amid the success of Paatal Lok season 2.

Jaideep Ahlawat returned to his iconic role of Inspector Hathiram Chaudhary with the second season of Paatal Lok last month. The show, which streams on Amazon Prime Video, catapulted Ahlawat to nationwide stardom with season 1. As he basks in the show's success, the actor speaks to HT about his supposed rise in stature and journey so far. (

Jaideep Ahlawat plays Hathiram Choudhary in Paatal Lok.

Jaideep Ahlawat on his Paatal Lok fees

A social media post and several news reports that were circulated around the release of Paatal Lok 2 claimed that Jaideep had hiked his fees 50 times for the second season. "Jaideep Ahlawat charged ₹40 lakh for Paatal Lok season 1 but increased it to ₹20 crore for season 2," read one such post. When we mention it to Jaideep, he laughs and says, “Arre yaar itna tha toh mujhe bata toh dete. Main kuch kar leta iss paise ka. Hai kahan ye paisa, gaya kahan? (If it was that much, they should have at least told me. I would have done something with the money. Where is this money? Where did it go?)”

The viral claim about Jaideep Ahlawat's fee for Paatal Lok.

Jaideep on the viral FTII picture

Paatal Lok has been the latest step in an acting journey that began two decades ago for the actor from Haryana when he joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Recently, a viral picture from his FTII days showed him with classmates Vijay Varma, Sunny Hinduja, Rajkummar Rao, and Prabhat. "This picture is from 2007. And I am sure everyone had their own journey much before that. It is 20 years since we all joined the institute. That was in 2005," he explains.

(From L-R) Jaideep Ahlawat, Rajkummar Rao, Prabhat, Vijay Varma, and Sunny Hinduja at FTII in 2007. (Twitter)

Jaideep adds that the batchmates are still in touch. We are still the same, talking nonsense. We have less face-to-face time now, but we are in touch by phone and messages. Whenever we meet, we go back into the student zone again."

Paatal Lok 2 also stars Ishwak Singh, Tilottama Shome, and Prashant Tamang in pivotal roles. The show is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Jaideep will be seen next in Jewel Thief, a Netflix film in which he co-stars with Saif Ali Khan.