Rajat Bedi reveals moving to Canada after friend fled away with his money: 'Career was struggling, no money..'

Actor Rajat Bedi, who has been a part of the film industry for nearly 30 years and has worked alongside several major stars, recently reflected on his career struggles and the life-altering decisions he made when work in Bollywood started to fade.

Despite a long list of film credits, Bedi admitted he has often been labeled a “struggling actor.” At one point, the lack of promising roles pushed him to consider other avenues, leading to a major turning point in his life, relocating to Canada with his family in search of stability.

Sharing the reasons behind this move in a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Bedi said he was disillusioned with the kind of work coming his way and had even declined an offer from television producer Ekta Kapoor. “At that time, television was really booming, and I got an offer from Ekta’s company. I had two options: either do Ekta’s show or leave the country and move to Canada,” he recalled.

He added that a financial crisis also contributed to the decision. “What prompted me to relocate there is also quite interesting. I had a friend who had borrowed money from me. Essentially, all the capital I had was with him. In return, he paid me interest every month so that I was able to run my household, as the film line was very unpredictable. At one point, he went bankrupt and ran away to Canada.”

The actor was on a film set when he learned about the situation. “He informed me about all this when I was at a shoot. I only found out about the mess he had created here later. On the one hand, my career was already struggling, and on the other, I had no money to run my household. Then, he started calling me from there, inviting me to Canada with the proposition of working together.”

What prompted me to relocate there is also quite interesting. I had a friend who had borrowed money from me. Essentially, all the capital I had was with him. In return, he paid me interest every month so that I was able to run my household, as the film line was very unpredictable. At one point, he went bankrupt and ran away to Canada.

- Rajat Bedi

Having already filmed in Canada for International Khiladi and The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, Bedi was drawn to the idea. “Thus, I decided to move there with my family. My daughter was 6 months old at that time, and my son was five. I left the country in 2007-08, and we started doing real estate business there. In 2009-10, we started developing properties, and the first two projects didn’t sell; we lost everything.”

Although the early years were difficult, Bedi shared that the business began recovering until fresh complications arose in 2012. “In 2012, we faced a huge setback. There were partnership issues, and the whole company went for a toss. We were in financial turmoil after doing business with around 200 million Canadian dollars. After reaching that scale, we came back down overnight.”

He revealed that despite repeated setbacks, he managed to keep the business going with help from others. “Since I faced significant setbacks and deceit from my previous partner, I found two new ones and resumed real estate business in a grand manner. In 2018, my partners cheated me so badly that we got into a legal battle and had a settlement. The trauma that we faced between 2018 and 2021 was crazy.”

While his focus had shifted to real estate, Bedi insisted he never completely walked away from entertainment. “I had started making films in Canada with my two partners. We opened a company called Dalmore Entertainment. We supported White Hill Productions with films like Punjab 1984, Sardaar Ji 2 and Channa Mereya, among others. We produced Hitler Didi on Zee. I did a few films in the South. I was relevant and was waiting for an opportunity to return to Bollywood.”

That opportunity came recently with The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, a film featuring Aryan Khan, in which Bedi earned praise for his role. After a long journey filled with professional hurdles and personal challenges, he appears ready to take on a new phase in the industry, this time, on his own terms.