This actor earned Rs 35 lakh per month at the age of 24 before he saw all his savings evaporate in just one year.
Very few actors attain success early in life. The struggles of tinsel town mean that it takes years for most to be successful and even longer to be rich or somewhat comfortable financially. So, it is a rare case when an actor can be wealthy enough to buy a house in Mumbai at the age of 24. It is rarer still when they lose that money in the space of a year and have to be dependent on pocket money to go for auditions.
This is the story of Vikrant Massey, once one of Indian TV’s biggest stars, who quit television at his peak for films, and saw his savings dwindle in just a year. Vikrant Massey made his acting debut with Dhoom Machao Dhoom in 2007 before making it big with Balika Vadhu and Dharam Veer over the next couple of years. By 2011-12, Vikrant says he was raking in a staggering Rs 35 lakh per month from his work on TV. In a recent interview on Unfiltered by Samdish, the actor shared, “My parents were in shock when I told them I am going to restart over in films. I was making a lot of money. At the age of 24, I was earning ₹35 lakh per month, especially for someone who comes from a middle-class background. I quit TV at the time when I had a ₹35 lakh per month contract in my hand. I decided to do good work and find peace.”
Vikrant said that he was fed up of the regressive content being dished out on television, particularly in the mainstream shows, which led him to believe that films would be a better option. But the transition was not smooth as the actor did not find work immediately. The actor said, “My savings got exhausted in a year and then my wife Sheetal (his girlfriend at the time) used to give me pocket money for auditions.”
Eventually, Vikrant got small roles in films like Lootera (2013) and Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), which earned him some recognition. His breakthrough came with the critically acclaimed A Death in the Gunj (2017). This paved way for larger roles in films like Chhapaak, Haseen Dilruba, as well as the web series Mirzapur. In 2023, Massey starred in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, a sleeper hit, which earned over Rs 69 crore at the box office.
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 "Vikrant Massey in 12th Fail")
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