Varun Chakaravarthy reveals his per day salary for working as a junior artist in a movie

India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy recently revealed that he used to be a jack of all trades before making it big in cricket. Amid all the glamour and glitz in the movie industry, the 33-year-old said that he once used to work as a junior artist, barely making ₹600 per day.

The remarks came as he informed that Indian cricketers are currently being paid a staggering 300 USD as daily allowance, which is approximately ₹25,652.78, a nearly 4200 percent rise in his salary from acting to becoming an international cricketer.

On Sunday (June 29), Charakaravarthy told Ravichandran Ashwin’s Kutty Stories on his YouTube channel (via NDTV):

“Some of my friends were part of the film industry, and I started seeing a lot of movies and accompanying them to shoots to observe what was happening. I started talking to the guys, and I came to know that they are shooting for a movie called Jeeva on many cricket grounds. I went there with the intention of becoming an Assistant Director, but that didn't work out. I couldn't even make a proper pitch.”

He continued:

“Then one of the ADs asked me if I played cricket. I said, 'Only tennis-ball cricket.' So then I got to act in this movie, where I was signed as a junior artist with a salary of INR 600 per day. And that was pretty helpful at that time.”

“The shoot went for 20 days, and I liked the entire process. Then I started writing a few stories, scripts, but when I pitched to a few guys, I realized that I was getting the emotions right, but I wasn't able to translate them as a screenplay. I directed a few short films,” Chakaravarthy added.

Varun Chakaravarthy reveals he once earned ₹14K as an assistant architect

Varun Chakaravarthy also shared that he used to earn ₹14,000 as an assistant architect after completing a bachelor's degree in architecture, trying his luck in several things before switching to professional cricket. He said in the same interaction:

“Right after I completed college, I was working in an architectural company for one and a half years as an assistant architect. I started with around 14k a month, and it was 18k around the time I left. After I left that job, for a brief stint, I took up guitar as I wanted to rekindle my love for music. But soon I realised that if you want to pursue some art, the love has to come from within. If your goal is to please others or get attention from others, it is never going to work out. I was never able to practice guitar for more than an hour. I realised it only after 6-8 months, and then I decided to stop.”

“Then I decided to start my own firm in interior design and construction. It went well for a year until Cyclone Vardha happened, and I lost all my investment. So that ended as well. I was around 24-25 then,” he added.

Notably, Varun Chakaravarthy was 26 when he became CSK and KKR’s net bowler in 2018 before earning a maiden IPL contract with PBKS in 2019.