Passion Before Money: 10 Times Bollywood Actors Charged 'Almost' Nothing To Star In Films

Actors find their own ways of making sure they get a fair share of their remuneration for movies. From profit-sharing to turning a co-producer on a film, actors are becoming smarter.

While there is a lot of money that is involved in making a movie, there are times when actors have to let go of their fee voluntarily for a good cause.

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Sometimes, actors come onboard & refuse to take fees to help producers financially, and sometimes, the movie matters to them more than their fee.

Here are 10 times when actors shuffled their priorities and chose everything else before money when they did these movies. Read on!

1. Sonam Kapoor charged only Rs.11 for playing Biro in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

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Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra revealed in his autobiography, The Stranger in the Mirror, co-written by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, that Sonam Kapoor charged only a token amount for her role in his film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. He wrote:

"Sonam Kapoor benevolently accepted to play a guest appearance for a princely sum of ?11 only for her brief portrayal of Biro. She chose to accept ?11. She had a special appearance in the film. Both of us shared an amazing journey with Delhi-6 before that. She told me that she is needed for just 7 days for the shoot, and she praised us for trying to say something so beautiful about the partition of this country and the spirit of Milkha Singh. So she wanted to contribute to the film as well. It was very nice of her."

2. Rajkummar Rao did Vikramaditya Motwane's Trapped for 'free'.

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Rao spoke to Arbaaz Khan on his chat show Pinch and revealed that some films are more special than others. ¡°Some films are not meant for box office. They are meant for life. I¡¯ll go from this world after 50 years or whatever.. when people talk about 10 films of Rajkummar Rao, and they will talk about Trapped,¡± he shared.

3. Amitabh Bachchan did Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black for 'free'.

A behind-the-scene still from Black

In February 2017, Amitabh Bachchan wrote a special blog dedicated to Black, which completed 12 years. He shared that he did the film for free. ¡°I had just wanted to work with Sanjay, after seeing all the other works he had done... And when the opportunity came, it was quite overwhelming. I did not take any salary for the film... Just being a part of such an enterprise was sufficient fees!¡±

4. Shahid Kapoor agreed to do Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider for free to cover the production cost

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In July 2014, Bhardwaj shared the news with a tabloid and said, "When he started planning the film, both Shahid and I agreed that it had to make money from day one. But, we also knew that Haider was a big film with a huge budget, an ensemble cast, and lavish action pieces. Filming in Kashmir added to the costs. The only way we could succeed in our endeavor was not to burden the film with our remunerations. We kept the secret between us for a long time, but it's finally out."

5. Deepika Padukone didn't charge anything for her debut movie 'Om Shaanti Om.'

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For Deepika, starring in a movie with Shah Rukh Khan was a gift in itself, so she decided to do the movie for free.

6. Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui charged only Re.1 for his titular role in Manto.

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Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who plays the late Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto in the film, offered to do it just for ¡®Re 1, largely for Manto and a little bit¡¯ for Nandita. "This is the character that an actor would give an arm and leg for. But to not charge even a nominal fee is very gracious of Nawaz," Nandita said in a statement to IANS. Other actors in the film, including Rishi Kapoor, Gurdas Maan, Javed Akhter, Rajshree Deshpande, Swanand Kirkire, and Ranvir Shorey, did the movie for free.

7. Salman appeared in Tees Maar Khan, Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani, Om Shanti Om, and Son of Sardaar without charging a single penny.

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Even though he is one of the highest-paid actors in the industry, Salman did many cameo roles for free.

8. Legendary Actress Meena Kapoor didn't charge any money for her last movie Pakeezah, which became a classic.

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Meena Kumari took only Re.1 as a token of regard for her iconic role in the movie Pakeezah in 1972, directed by Kamal Amrohi. Sadly, the veteran actress died of liver cirrhosis just a few days after the release. Till today, she is remembered and loved for her role in the movie.

9. Nawazuddin Siddiqui charged Re. 1 as a token amount for his film Haraamkhor alongside Shweta Tripathi.

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¡°Nawaz and everyone on the project worked on minimal money or no money at all. Ours is a passion project, and we did everything we could to get the film made. Nawaz loved the script and insisted on working pro bono on the film, understanding the budget's limitations overall. He was sweet to only charge Rupee 1 from us literally as a token of his efforts. His support and work made the film possible!¡± said movie producer Guneet Monga in 2017.

10. Despite harsh climatic conditions, Irrfan Khan starred in the 38-minute short film "Road To Ladakh" for oscar-nominated and National Award-winning filmmaker Ashvin Kumar for free

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An emotional Ashvin revealed he felt "cheated" on Irrfan's sudden demise in April 2020. A drop out of London Film School, Ashvin recalls, he had no budget to pay the actor. He requested Irrfan if he could come forward to support the film.

He told a news agency: "I remember when we were in Delhi before leaving for Ladakh, that evening Bhai had met with an accident. He injured his wrist. He had all the medical reasons to back out as I was not paying him, and he voluntarily supported the film. But he said, ¡®I promised you, I will keep my words. The more I got to know him, my respect for him as an individual amplified. He did not know back then that he had high altitude sickness, and we discovered that once we went to Ladakh. He was sick, with an injured wrist, and living under extreme weather conditions inside a tent-like all of us. But he did not give up. He constantly supported us."