Kartik Aaryan says relentless work ‘burning’ him out, describes it as race with no finish line: ‘Earlier I’d enter malls so people recognise me’

The 33-year-old actor, currently on a career high, insisted that it is exhausting but he knows no other way to be as he mapped his career which began in 2011 and took him through a roller-coaster of hits and flops. Ahead of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’s grand Diwali release on November 1, Kartik Aaryan talks about his career and why he is feeling “burnt out” with his workaholic attitude.

Edited excerpts:

Kartik Aaryan will be next seen in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.

You have a team behind you, there is a promotional blitzkrieg which is ongoing and a sizeable audience waiting to watch your films. Are there times when all of this feels unreal? 

When I didn’t have work, I was only thinking how to get my first film. When I got it, I didn’t enjoy that moment, I just went for it, the film released, then the second film didn’t work and then Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety revived my career, almost like a re-launch. Success, failures, everything kept happening. Even till today, I haven’t gotten the chance to relax and think, I’ve come this far.

Back then, it was all about getting my first film, then maintaining my momentum and ensuring that people know my name. They would call me the monologue guy, that was all my identity. So, I have always wanted different things at different times. I haven’t had the chance to sit and back reflect, because I am in a race with no finish line.

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Why do you say you didn’t enjoy your first break?

I don’t think I am able to give myself that personal time, because I am always thinking about work, the way forward, what have I not done, what went wrong, what is right. I have been in that space for the longest time. I think I need time for myself also, I am getting a bit burnt out with this — just constantly been working. But the thing is, I don’t know anything else but work. I’ve tried that, but it doesn’t work for me. I am a workaholic x 100.

You know what I enjoyed? The first time someone asked for a selfie and recognised me. I would in fact walk into a mall deliberately so that people recognise me. So, all of this is also work for me, it is no vanity at all. It is work somewhere down the line.

How are you when you are not on set then?

I am watching a film or thinking about my next film (laughs). But I watch a lot of sports and even play. That is one place where I forget about everything else. When I play football or cricket, that’s the space I feel I don’t think about anything else.

You promote your films intensely– there’s not a place where you are not seen, which can be exhausting. How many coffees you drink in a day?

Many, I lose count of the mugs (laughs). The kind of films I do require that kind of promotions. When you do a film like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, which is an entertaining film, you need to market it to the audience at a ground level. Sometimes people don’t agree to it but I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. I want to go all out, but in a way that it is not taxing for others who are watching it, where people should get excited about the film. Not do something for the heck of visibility.

Between Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and 3, you’ve had three theatrical releases — Shehzada, Satyaprem Ki Katha and Chandu Champion. Is there a strategy here in creating a bouquet of films?

Of course there is a strategy, but it doesn’t factor in the release dates. Films can go back and forth due to some delays, but if I am choosing a film after Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3–and I am currently doing only Anurag Basu’s next–I will strategise. But I won’t leave a good script because of that, in the sense, if I get a film like Lukka Chuppi or Sonu, which are in similar space, I’d not leave them because I am doing BB3. I am greedy like that. Even if I get a film which is offbeat, I’d still do it.