Vikrant Massey Was Unhappy Earning Rs 35 Lakh a Month at 24, Here's Why

Vikrant Massey, currently riding high on the success of his 2023 film ‘12th Fail,’ recently peeled back the layers of his career and financial philosophy in a candid exchange with Unfiltered by Samdish. Amidst a flurry of revelations, what truly grabbed attention was Vikrant’s audacious decision to walk away from a lucrative job earning him Rs. 35 lakhs per month, all at the tender age of 24.

In a viral snippet from the interview, Vikrant recounted how money could earn him societal respect, citing an incident where society’s treatment towards a middle-class individual like himself was initially ‘partial’ that changed eventually. However, he confessed that despite these external validations, he couldn’t find inner peace.

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He reminisced, “I earned a lot of money when working in TV. I bought my first home at 24, I was earning 35 lakh per month. It was a lot for someone from a family like mine where we struggled to make ends meet. After I bought the home, paid off debts, and gave my parents a better life, I still couldn’t sleep peacefully. I quit at that stage because good work felt more important. All my savings were exhausted and Sheetal (his wife) would lend me money to attend auditions.”

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But why was he unhappy? In the same interview, he disclosed how the industry’s shift towards repetitive and often misogynistic content disillusioned him. Rising to fame with ‘Balika Vadhu,’ he recounted the discomforting experiences on TV sets that led him to take a stand against the norm.

Having dedicated a decade to television, starting his acting journey at 17, Vikrant gradually felt the industry’s disconnect from his aspirations. “On TV, a lot of irritating things would happen, like MBAs calling the shots on stories. They would say, ‘Make only these kinds of episodes for rating, as per our internal research’.”

Also Read: Vikrant Massey’s 12th Fail Reminds IFS Officer Of His UPSC Days: ‘Real Depiction’

“They really made a fool out of many by saying this ‘internal research’ and asking for a ‘maha episode’, which would be of one hour. After a point, I fought with them and said I won’t do it,” he asserted. Vikrant also disclosed gruelling work schedules, citing instances of laborious stretches lasting over 110 hours without respite.

This led him to feel “churning” within, sensing that he was “under-utilised” as an actor. “I thought I could do a lot more, but they are not able to utilise me. My contract in Balika Vadhu was just for two months, it was a cameo. But people loved it so much it went on for two years. I did it for that long because I believed in the content I was doing. But after that maza nahi aaya kuch shows mein.”