The average Aussie wouldn’t bat an eye if they walked past him on the street, but a number of Bollywood fans in Melbourne have gone as far to profess their love for Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan publicly, with more than one person asking for his hand in marriage.
“The kind of response that I’m getting in Australia, the way the proposals are going on and stuff like that…. it makes me feel like that I should do a lot more romantic films,” he cheekily quipped in an interview with 9Honey.
It is in fact romance films that have earned him the status of Bollywood’s quintessential lover boy, as well as contributing to him being awarded with the Rising Global Superstar award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
Watch the video above.
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Though he is flabbergasted by the attention he is getting so far from home, the 32-year-old says it is indicative of something more meaningful.
“It’s kind of this realisation of having [an] audience all around the world, you know, and so, I was actually literally seeing this. I’ve had heard about it, you know, be it in the US or UK, but Australia, for me it was even further,
“For me to, have this one on one conversation with so many fans, it made me realise the globalisation of our films or the kind of audience [that] watches our films.”
This has been the 14-year-long mission for Mitu Bhowmick Lange, the founder and director of the IFFM, as well as the founder and director of Mind Blowing Films, a distribution company that brings mainly Indian-language films to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
Once a producer on these very films, she has since been the driving force behind cultivating a space for South Asians to express their identity through one of the biggest mediums they have at their disposal – cinema.
What was once an event held for specific cultural groups in the outskirts of Melbourne has since become an attraction at the heart of the city that people from every background can feel welcome at, Lange tells 9Honey.
“It’s for everyone, you know, and I feel really happy because we see a lot of second, third generation Indian-Australians who bring their Australian friends because they know that it would be it’d be fun – it’s not cringe, it’s fun.
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“Everything is very, very accessible. And you know, for me, the kind of integration that has happened has been very rewarding… [it’s] a lot more than just a passing fad.”
The festival has begun from August 11 and will run until August 20 in various venues across Melbourne, featuring appearances and talks from Bollywood superstars like Amitabh Bacchan, Rani Mukherjee, Karan Johar, Shabana Azmi, and many more. There are also many screenings of films to attend, including one for Aaryan’s latest film, a romantic drama titled Satyaprem Ki Katha.
Telling the tale of a “feminist husband” who supports his wife through a traumatic issue from her past, Aaryan says it’s this role that is closest to his heart.
“[It’s a] very real, very important story” of “another character which was actually really close to me.
“I think I enjoyed playing that character – which was quite different from what I’m used to, you know. I’m used to saying a lot of things in anger. I’m used to saying dialogues which are funnier, always on a comical side… but in this one was just being normal, being… maybe real.”
Aaryan has forged his 12-year-long career on playing the quintessential hopeless romantic, beginning with his debut in Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011). With no connections in the industry, his youthful cheekiness helped him persevere in an industry that was thirsty for those ordinary type of love stories.
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But romance hasn’t always worked out for him. Though Aaryan’s performance was lauded by critics, Satyaprem Ki Katha didn’t do too well. Netiher did his action film before that, Shehzada (2023), a remake of the beloved Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020). Aaryan had to return his salary after the film faced a financial crisis, with the 32-year-old declaring he would never do remake again.
Though it is hard facing blow after blow, Aaryan says he remains optimistic.
He, of course, “feels sad” about the films, but he tries “not to linger upon it. I try to change my thoughts and I try to move on with my next project or my next movie and maybe work on myself work on things which went wrong. And do something new, start something fresh with a new idea.”
He has recently taken a departure from his tried-and-true rom-coms, starring in psychological-thriller film Freddy (2022), comedy-horror film Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022), thriller Dhamaka (2021), and more. He is currently in London in the midst of filming Chandu Champion, a biopic about the life of Murlikant Petkar, India’s first Paralympic gold medalist.
But regardless of genre, the rising global superstar says he simply wants to do films he likes.
“I’m that audience myself, who watches everything, so I want to do that on screen as well, and you know, maybe expand my fanbase, my audience when it comes to any genre.
“It started with comedy, but whenever I get a chance I shift gears, I try to do different stuff – it excites me all the more to do something different as well.”
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