Manoj Bajpayee recalls the time when his fee was slashed in half because he was playing a mute character: ‘Apmaanit mahsoos kia maine’
Actor Manoj Bajpayee has often spoken about his days of struggle when he started his acting career in Mumbai. While Manoj had a fair amount of experience during his theatre days in Delhi, he had to start from scratch to make his mark in the film and television industry in Mumbai. In a recent chat with The Lallantop, Bajpayee recalled an incident from Anubhav Sinha’s Shikast, a television show from the early 1990s, where his fee was sliced in half the producer.
Manoj recalled that Anubhav, who was directing the show, did not take a stand for him and this upset him even more. The actor shared that when the Anek director got a chance to direct a TV show, he made sure that Manoj had a role in it. “Usne role create kia mere liye, goonge ka role, aur mujhe bhi bada interesting laga (He created a role for me, the role of a mute man and I found it very interesting),” he said.
Manoj Bajpayee shared that at the time, he was struggling financially. “Uss samay shooting pe jaate the toh line mein khade hote ki 100 rupees conveyance ke milenge. Voh 100 rupees humare liye bohot badi cheez hoti thi. (In those days, we used to stand in a queue so we would get Rs 100 at the end of the shoot for conveyance. And that Rs 100 was a big thing at that time.),” he recalled. After he had shot for four episodes for Shikast, Manoj was still patient as the conveyance amount was keeping him afloat. After four months had passed, the actor went to the producers to collect his fee but was met with a shocking response.
He said, “Producer ne kaha 4000 rupees per episode hai tumhara. Tumko 4000 kyu milna chahiye? Maine kahan yeh toh aapne hi fix kia hai. Usne bola tumko toh 2000 milna chahiye . Maine pucha kyu? Voh bola voh toh dialogue bolne ke liye kia the na, dialogue kidhar hai tumhara? Mujeh toh Anubhav ne bola nahi ki dialogue nahi hai tumhara. Jab dialogue hi nahi toh aadha hoga na fir paisa. (The producer asked why I was getting Rs 4000 per episode. I said you people only fixed it. He said I should only get Rs 2000. I asked why? He said that payment is for dialogues, where are your dialogues? Anubhav never told me you have no dialogues.)”
Manoj recalled he was furious after lening to this response. “Kayi tarah se apmaanit mahsoos kia maine, ek abhineta ke taur pe, ek abhineta ke pure craft ko lekar ke aur itna sara kaam karne ke baad fir gurbat bhi hai. (I felt disrespected in a lot of ways, as an actor I had worked so hard, and I was still struggling with poverty.),” he said.
Manoj Bajpayee said that he left the place and started walking because he was furious at the situation. Manoj remembered that he was quite upset with Anubhav Sinha because he wanted the director to take a stand for him. “Main chahta tha ki Anubhav mere liye stand le, jo ki voh kehta hai ki usne stand lia tha aur jiska mujhe nahi pata. Main usse itna naraz hua tha ki maine Anubhav se baat karna bad kar dia tha. (I wanted Anubhav to take a stand for me, which he says he did. But, I don’t know. I was so upset with him that I stopped talking to him.),” the actor said.
Of course, many years have passed since this incident and the two have buried the hatchet. They announced a project in 2020 but details about the same are still awaited.
