Actor Harshvardhan Rane is currently on a victory lap, celebrating the success of his latest release “Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat” starring himself and Sonam Bajwa. The film has been doing decent numbers in theatres and his career seems to be on an upward trajectory. However, it wasn’t always sunshine and roses. Did you know that before he broke on to the film scene, he actually lived a very difficult life?
Few know about the actor’s struggles pre-Bollywood, but in a recent interview with IANS, Rane opened up and spoke about his struggles with the industry and what jobs he worked prior to acting, also recalling a positive interaction with actor John Abraham.
The actor ran away from home and worked as a waiter
Harshvardhan Rane, born on December 16 1983 to non-industry parents always dreamed of making it big on the silver screen. However, since he came from a non-acting background, it was not encouraged at home. Thus, at the age of 16 he ran away from his home in Gwalior and came to Delhi with just Rs 200 in his pocket according to an interview he had done a few years prior with Free Press Journal.
Speaking more recently to IANS, he recounted, ““After running away from home… I’ve told this story many times. But after running away from home, the first thing you need is food. For that, you need some money. For that, you need a salary. And for that, you need a job. So, it wasn’t all that easy.”
The actor worked odd jobs here and there while he attempted to land roles. He worked as a waiter for a short time and recalled that he was being paid only Rs 10 per day for hours of labour and given a plate of Chholey Chawal as compensation.
“No one gave me any work. In the beginning, the easiest job you can get is a waiter’s job. You don’t need any qualification for that; you just have to serve the table. That started with Rs. 10 per day and a plate of choley rice. That was my salary,” he said.
He also worked for a short while at the register of a cyber cafe cum STD booth in 2002 where he was paid Rs 10-20 per day. In 2004, he began working as a delivery boy and reminisced about the fateful meeting with John Abraham.
Things came full circle for him
In 2022, Harshvardhan starred in the movie ‘Tara vs Bilaal’ which was co-produced by John Abraham and things really seemed to come full circle for the actor as he spoke about how he had once delivered an item to the actor while he was still working as a delivery boy and how years later he starred in a movie produced by him.
“Someone gave me a job delivering a helmet from a bike showroom to a hotel. When I went there, I found out it was for Mr. John Abraham. His manager told me to wait. I thought, ‘I hope I won’t get into any trouble. I hope I won’t get a scratch pass. I hope I won’t get scolded’,” he said
What stuck out to him, was the fact that John Abraham a huge celebrity at the time, riding a wave of success from movies like Dhoom and Garam Masala had personally come to thank him. “John came to the lobby. It was the time of Garam Masala — his Dhoom and Garam Masala days. I was feeling a little awkward and nervous because I was sweating. So, with that awkwardness, I handed him the helmet. He stopped me to say thank you.”
“That day, something changed in me. I thought, ‘Okay, this star can say thank you to a delivery boy.’ There was a humanity lesson in those 10 seconds. That’s how I met him,” he fondly recalled.
He then spoke of still being in awe of him despite the fact that they had worked on the same project 20 years later. “Two years ago, I did a film in which he was the producer and I was the actor. And still, when I look at him, he says, ‘Harsh, stop calling me sir.'”
Harshvardhan Rane ended the interview by thanking God for the past twenty years. Today, he is reportedly worth Rs 20-25 crores according to the Times of India. His come up has been a wonderful thing to witness; he managed to make it to Bollywood and follow his dreams despite the odds being stacked against him. Actors, from non-movie backgrounds and with no access to nepotism, making it big in Bollywood is a rare sight to witness and aspirational for every young talent hoping to break into the industry.