Here’s where Kartik Aaryan scores over Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh

The Kartik Aaryan factor in Bollywood cannot be underestimated. Not after Yash Raj films’ Twin Towers Samrat Prithviraj and Shamshera biting the dust so ingloriously. Consider the prohibitive budget for both the projects and their final outcome at the box-office, and you would have a clear picture of why Kartik Aaryan is considered the No.1 star of Bollywood after Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 .

The horror-comedy has so far earned close to Rs 250 crores at the box-office, while the film was made at a budget of Rs 85 crores. The producers, Bhushan Kumar and Murad Khetani, are ready to pay Kartik Aaryan double his fees for the third part of the film.

But Kartik isn’t biting the bait. He says he would rather not be a Friday-to-Friday star. What he seeks is constancy in his career. He would rather be a good chooser than a bad loser. He apparently narrates the scripts offered to him to his mother, who knows what the audience wants and what is good for her son.

Ranbir Kapoor, on the other hand, never consulted his late father, or his mother before signing a film, although they are veteran actors.

No wonder Kartik’s next release Shehzada, opening in February 2023, is being seen as the next big Bollywood blockbuster.

Says Bihar’s prominent exhibitor Suman Sinha, “It is  Kartik Aaryan the audience want to see in movie theatres. After Bhoola Bulaiyaa 2, they are eagerly waiting for his Shehzada.”

Adds another exhibitor Roshan Singh from Bihar, “The fact that Kartik Aaryan is  doing a remake of an Allu Arjun Telugu blockbuster (Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo) makes Shehzada all the more exciting. People want to see what Kartik Aaryan has done to the Allu Arjun role. It is significant that director Rohit Dhawan signed Aaryan for a role tailormade for his brother Varun Dhawan.”

Suman Sinha thinks Kartik Aaryan is choosing his projects well. “After Shehzada,  which is a light-hearted family entertainer, Kartik has a dark thriller called Freddy coming up. I believe they got rid of a flop director (Ajay Behl) and replaced him with Shashanka Ghosh, to ensure full justice is done to the script. Now, Kartik has signed a film with Kabir Khan, who got a career-best performance out of Salman Khan in Bajrangi Bhaijaan. So we can expect something similar with Kartik.”

Kartik  says he is  no hurry to sign  films. “I  can  wait. I’m in  no hurry to sign films. I am neither insecure nor impatient about my career. Everything will happen when it is  destined  to happen.”

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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