Sanam Teri Kasam’s Harshvardhan Rane recalls struggle: ‘Worked for Rs 10 at phone booth, my biggest struggle was to find clean soap and washroom’

“My biggest struggle was to find a clean soap for myself,” Harshvardhan Rane said as he spoke about his struggling days in the film industry. Rane’s 2016 film Sanam Teri Kasam recently re-released in theatres, and the film, which was a box office failure upon its initial release, got the cash registers ringing, minting over Rs 30 crore within 10 days of its re-release. Rane’s journey in the film industry mirrors the fate of his film. He entered the industry without any connections and worked odd jobs, including waiting tables, to survive in Mumbai.

Speaking about the same to The Hollywood Reporter India, he said, “I started working as a waiter in a hostel mess. I also got a job to maintain a register at an STD booth for Rs 10 per day. Then the same work at a cafe for Rs 20 per day. The first struggle was to find a meal and a steady Rs 10 income, then the struggle was to find a washroom. The soap would have someone else’s hair stuck on it. Then the struggle was to find a deodorant because I would sleep with four or five hardworking men who worked in the kitchen, and there was an odour issue. I remember when I first started earning, I got a perfume and had a shake at McDonald’s.”

He added, “That’s where my struggle started. So, after that, this all isn’t struggle for me. Till the time I am getting food, a clean bed, and hot water to bathe, I couldn’t feel this is struggle.”

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Having faced hardships early in his career, Harshvardhan revealed that he still doesn’t shy away from asking for work from producers, despite his ‘elite’ friends advising him against it. “When I go with this model, there isn’t a place for doubt. Some of my elite friends tell me, ‘Ye bahut ghatiya idea hai to go to a producer’s office. It doesn’t look good. You have done 7-8 films here and 10-11 films in the South, people know you, don’t do this.’ I just smile at them and pretend to listen to them,” he said.