Shahid Kapoor revealed that he didn’t charge any remuneration for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider as the makers couldn’t afford his fee.
Ever since Shahid Kapoor made his acting debut with Ishq Vishk (2003), the Bollywood star has delivered many memorable performances in films belonging to different genres. One of them is Vishal Bhardwaj‘s 2014 crime drama Haider, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet.’
But do you guys know that Shahid didn’t charge a single penny for this movie? Well, the reason behind this was revealed by the ‘Farzi’ actor in his recent interview with Film Companion.
Shahid shared that he was the only actor who did Haider for free. Elaborating on it, he said that his remuneration was beyond the budget of the movie and the makers made it clear that if they paid him, the film wouldn’t get made.
The ‘Kabir Singh’ actor told the publication, “I’m the only one who did it for free. They couldn’t afford me. They said if they had to pay me, then the budget of the film wouldn’t get sanctioned because it was a very experimental subject. They really didn’t know if it would land at all but it was a very compelling kind of product to make and so I said, ‘Yeah, I will do it for free.'”
On being asked if he has done any other movies for free as well, Shahid called Haider an exception and added that this was the only time when he let go of his fee. He further laughed and said that it was “wonderful” and can only work if it is an exception and not a habit. He further laughingly added, “Ghar bhi chalana hai (I have to take care of my household as well).”
Besides Shahid Kapoor, Haider also featured Tabu, Kay Kay Menon, Shraddha Kapoor and Irrfan Khan in pivotal roles. Set in conflict-torn Kashmir, the film revolves around a young man who choses a turbulent path to avenge his father’s death.
