Kartik Aaryan on rising film cost debate: Only you should not be in profitable zone as the actor, it’s wrong

Actor Kartik Aaryan opens up on the debate around exhorbitant costs on films today, and his latest film Chandu Champion.

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.

Actor Kartik Aaryan

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.