Kartik Aaryan dubs himself a ‘shehzada’ of Bollywood

Kartik Aaryan was featured on the latest episode of a leading media house’s popular show, where he talked about the fees he received during the initial days of his career and how he dubs himself as a ‘shehzada’ of Bollywood. The actor, who is one of the highest-paid stars in Bollywood, earned Rs 1.25 lakh for his first film, ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’. After witnessing several successes and becoming one of the most bankable stars in the industry, he talked about earning Rs 20 crore for a film that he worked on during the pandemic.

Earlier, it was reported that Kartik was paid Rs 20 crore for only 10 days of work in filmmaker Ram Madhvani’s ‘Dhamaka’, which was released in 2021. He hadn’t confirmed or denied the news. Recently, he spoke about the fees and also why film producers pay him the hefty amount they do.

A famed senior journalist from the media house told Kartik that he had become ‘so obsessed’ with himself that after earning Rs 1.25 lakh in his first film, he was now asking for Rs 20 crore, to which Kartik answered: “This was for 10 days.”

When he tried to play it off as a joke, the host corrected him and said in Hindi, “No, you are not joking. For the film you shot during the COVID-19 pandemic in 10 days, you spent Rs 20 crore.” Kartik then said, “Yes, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I shot for the film for 10 days and that was my remuneration. I make my producers earn double the money in 20 days, so I think I deserve what I am paid.”

Kartik was also told that he had started behaving like ‘hero number one’ after the success of ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ in 2022, a film that crossed over Rs 250 crore at the box office. He answered, “I have always seen myself as number one. Slowly, people are also getting to know me and are seeing me like that. But the audience’s love is what matters most to me. I am desperate for their love and only for that I am obsessed with myself and want to give hit films. There’s only one shehzada in the film industry.”