India Star Informs R Ashwin Of Stunning Pay Rise Of 4200% In Cricket, In Movies He Only Earned Rs...

NDTV

30-06-2025

It isn't the easiest to make it big in Indian cricket. The competition remains the most fierce, in comparison to any country in the world, with talented aspiring cricketers knocking doors at all levels of the game. The situation is such that many get to play only a handful of games, while some don't get to make their debuts at all. That's what makes the story of Varun Chakravarthy, arguably India's finest spinner in white-ball cricket at present, an interesting one. Varun, who is already 33 years old, only made his international debut 4 years ago.
While the mystery spinner has gone on to cement a spot for himself in India's T20 World Cup and ODI teams, cricket wasn't always seen as a 'career' by him. Varun, in a chat with former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel, revealed that he initially worked in an architectural company, acted in a movie, and even directed a few short films.
"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 said in a candid interview.
While Varun's intent was to make it as an Assistant Director, the fact that he played tennis-ball cricket earned him a junior artist's role in a movie for a salary of Rs 600 per day.
"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 in 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. 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," he said.
Varun was also asked about his daily allowance by Ashwin, as an Indian cricketer at present. He said it was USD 300 (INR 25652.78), which translates to a pay rise of roughly 4200 percent.
"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 realised that I was getting the emotions right, but I wasn't able to translate them as a screenplay. I directed a few short films."