Rane’s rise to fame came only after his 2016 romantic film Sanam Teri Kasam found new life during the Covid-19 lockdown. Yet, his path to recognition was anything but easy. From running away from home at 16 to working as a carpenter and later studying psychology, Rane’s story is a fascinating mix of grit, humility, and curiosity.
Harshvardhan Rane’s Early struggle
Harshvardhan Rane ran away from his home in Gwalior at the age of 16, inspired by fellow Gwalior actor Sharad Kelkar. With only Rs 200 in his pocket, he reached Delhi, determined to make a mark in acting. To survive, he took up odd jobs — working as a waiter for Rs 10 a day and surviving on plates of chole-chawal. He also worked at STD booths, cyber cafés, and delivery services to make ends meet.
Joined call centre to learn English
Rane later joined a call centre with a unique purpose — to learn English. Speaking to Free Press Journal, he recalled,
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“That time people would say it’s important to learn English. It then became my goal to learn the language. I looked around for coaching classes, but I didn’t have money to pay for them. So, I joined a call centre. At call centres, they used to give training in soft skills and English.”
Delivered helmet to John Abraham as a delivery boy
During his struggling years, Rane worked as a delivery boy and once had a surprising encounter with actor John Abraham. He told Zoom, “In 2004, I used to work as a delivery boy and I once delivered a helmet to John Abraham. I didn’t deliver it at his home, but at an event in Delhi and I had to deliver it at a hotel. When I got to know that it is for John Sir, I got a little… like every common man would. But then his manager asked me to wait and I thought something has gone wrong or the helmet was scratched, but he came out to just thank me. Then I understood that humanity is number one and everything else is after that.”
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Years later, Rane got the opportunity to work in John Abraham’s production Tara vs Bilal.
Worked as carpenter after first film to survive
After starting his career on television and moving to Telugu cinema, Rane faced a tough period when he was only offered negative roles. He decided to wait for better opportunities and took up carpentry to survive.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said, “I didn’t want to do negative roles and because of that for three years, I didn’t get work. Financially, I have been broke many times, I am still broke sometimes and now I am an expert at being broke! (Laughs) There was a time when things got so bad that the assistant I had hired after my first film had to feed me for six months.”
He added, “For survival, out of the blue, I picked up carpentry. My father used to work with wood and as a child, I picked up a lot of those skills and I started carpentry as a part-time career. I started buying old furniture from Nampally Station (in Hyderabad) and retextured it…. Ameer logon ko distressed look bahut pasand hain (laughs), toh main woh karke unko bech deta tha. Usse mere khaane-peene ka ho jaata tha. That taught me a lot and even today my WhatsApp status says ‘carpenter.’ That always gives me the assurance that I may not get as much success, but I will not go hungry ever.”
Studied psychology after becoming a star
Even after gaining fame, Rane didn’t stop learning. His Deewane Ki Deewaniyat co-star Shaad Randhawa recalled how Rane was studying for his psychology major during the film’s hectic shoot schedule.
Randhawa shared, “Harshvardhan Rane is a completely different person. He is a multifaceted person. For example, we were rehearsing scenes and we didn’t have that much time — we had to shoot the film in 30–35 days. He would take breaks in between rehearsal and go somewhere. I saw that he was taking notes; when I asked him about it, he told me that it is not for the film, but that he is giving exams and he is preparing for them.”
“He was studying psychology major, and he was giving exams for the same. He was studying during the growing schedule of Deewane Ki Deewaniyat.”
Rane told Hindustan Times, “There was always this void of not completing my education to become an actor. In the last few years, there has been some sense of belongingness within the industry, maybe just from my side. So, I picked up on filling the void I had always felt.”
Balancing studies and acting wasn’t easy, but Rane found his own rhythm.
“I started walking to my gym which would take 45 minutes, and I’d listen to audio lectures in that time. During exercising, on my way home, in car transit, at airport lounges, everywhere I would listen to lectures. And I have done the most amount of study in flights. I have started to love traffic also because it gives me time to study. I have done my assignments at a government office when their servers went down.”