Kartik Aaryan has been making waves for his upcoming movie, ‘Chandu Champion,’ owing to his striking physical transformation and the film’s trailer. Recently, Kartik opened up about his financial struggles and a life marked by mounting debts before he achieved stardom.

In Raj Shamani’s podcast, the ‘Shehzada’ actor revealed that he had always battled with money issues. Growing up in Gwalior, he recalled how his family faced significant debts, saying, “We were in debt because my parents had taken debts 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.”

Even after moving to Mumbai, Aaryan had to borrow money from friends during college. Talking about that time, the ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’ actor revealed that loans were a common part of his life, and borrowing was a regular practice. When he moved to Mumbai, Aaryan knew he had to earn; he was tired of a life fueled by borrowing.

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However, even after starring in Luv Ranjan’s ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama,’ the actor’s struggles didn’t end. For his role in the film, he earned only 70,000 rupees and had to pay 7,000 in taxes. In his podcast with Ranveer Allahbadia, Kartik revealed that part of his life, around the age of 22, was very scary when it came to money. “I was in a very scary situation in my life around that time. I was an actor and I had a movie releasing but I had no other films. Even after the film was a hit, I had no other film offers, and I had no money.”

Despite the financial success of ‘Punchnama,’ Kartik Aaryan didn’t receive many film offers. Whatever he received was restricted to supporting roles. Believing in his instinct, Aaryan didn’t give in to whatever little came his way, even though he knew he could make money from those roles. This decision proved to be favorable for the actor, as his belief paid off after the success of his film, ‘Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety.’

Since his breakthrough with the 2018 film, Kartik Aaryan went on to star in films like ‘Luka Chuppi,’ ‘Love Aaj Kal,’ ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2,’ and ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha,’ among others. The actor is now preparing for the release of his film, ‘Chandu Champion,’ directed by Kabir Khan and backed by Sajid Nadiadwala. Kartik is also filming for the third installment of the ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ films, where he will star alongside Vidya Balan and Triptii Dimri.

Kartik Aaryan’s upcoming release, ‘Chandu Champion,’ is based on the life of Murlikant Petkar, who won an individual gold medal in the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany.