Kartik Aaryan didn't fly home for Ganesh Chaturthi this year. He's in the UK, deep into the shoot for Captain India, and that's where Bappa found him too.

The actor posted a picture with a Ganesh idol on Instagram, keeping the festival close even with an ocean between him and Mumbai. "Miles away from home, but never away from Bappa! ❤️🙏 Ganpati Bappa Morya!" he wrote, according to Bollywood Hungama.

It's a simple line, but it does the job. Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai isn't just a festival, it's a citywide event, pandals and processions and the whole neighbourhood showing up. Missing it while working on a film that has him camped out abroad for weeks is the trade-off that comes with being one of Bollywood's busier leading men right now.

So he improvised. Kartik's Instagram carried pictures of modaks, the steamed sweet dumpling that's practically synonymous with the festival, sitting next to a plate of chhole bhature. Not the most traditional festive pairing, but it's the kind of menu that travels well when you're trying to recreate a bit of home in a foreign kitchen. Bollywood Hungama reported that the food gave his celebrations "a familiar Indian flavour" despite the distance.

Captain India has kept Kartik on a punishing schedule. He's been splitting his time between the demands of the shoot and whatever festive gestures he can manage on set, and by the look of his posts, he's made peace with doing both at once rather than choosing one over the other.

There's no word yet on when the UK leg of the shoot wraps or when Kartik heads back to Mumbai. For now, the modaks and the Ganesh idol will have to stand in for the pandal-hopping he's missing back home.

What's clear is that the actor isn't treating the festival as an afterthought just because he's away. A quick idol, a plate of sweets, a caption that lands somewhere between homesick and grateful. That's Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 for Kartik Aaryan, wherever Captain India takes him next.