Kartik Sahu of Kendrapada district, who used to showcase his acting skills in Bollywood movies as a junior artist, has resorted to selling vegetables to make ends meet due to drastic reduction in shooting activities for Covid-19 pandemic.
Kartik was a part of six Bollywood movies and one Hindi television serial. He shared screen space with superstars Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Ranveer Singh, Vishal Devgan and John Abraham.
However, tough times for Kartik began after suspension of shooting activities due to Covid-19. Left with no choice, he decided to sell vegetables at Palasuni market in Bhubaneswar for bread and butter.
To support his family financially, Kartik had left for Mumbai in 2004 and was initially working for an electrical appliances company there with a monthly salary of Rs 1,200. Later, one of his friends helped him get a role in movies.
He has been a part of Prithviraj, Sooryavanshi, Shamshera, Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Tanhaji films. After the postponement of shooting for Prithviraj movie, he returned Odisha and currently resides at a rented house near Canal Road in Rasulgarh area.
“I started this business with an initial investment of Rs 2,000 to meet basic expenses. Though movie making has been badly affected, I am hopeful that normalcy will return following which I will go back to Mumbai,” he said.