Nawazuddin Siddiqui revealed, in a recent interview, that he didn’t get paid Rs 2500 for his role in Eeshwar Nivas’ 1999 release Shool but managed to recover the money with a clever plan. Before he gained popularity as an actor, Nawazuddin played side roles in several films including that of a waiter in Shool. The film starred Manoj Bajpayee and Raveena Tandon in the lead and was produced by Ram Gopal Varma.
Nawazuddin also revealed that he visited the production office for several months but to no avail. Nawazuddin told Bollywood Bubble, “I have small roles in several films, I don't even tell people about many of them, but I am there. I needed money, it was a means of survival."
"I played a waiter in Shool who takes the order from Manoj Bajpayee and Raveena Tandon. They said they will pay me ₹2,500, but I have never gotten it. There have been many such cases, but this one I remember very well," Nawazuddin revealed.
He recalled, “6-7 mahine tak maine office ke chakkar kaate, dhai hazaar rupay ke liye. Wo nahi mile, but khaana mil jaata tha. Maine kya kiya baad mein, chalaaki kya ki, main khaane ke time mein phochta tha unke office mein. (For 6-7 months I would go to their office, for Rs 2500. I didn’t get the money but I used to get food. So I came up with a clever plan and I would go to the office at lunch time).”
The actor further said, “Toh woh meri halat ko dekhke bolte the 'Khaana khaayega?' Maine kaha, 'Haan,' (Unhone bola) 'Paise to nahi milenge par khaana khaa le aaja tu,' maine kaha 'Chal thik hai'. To main aise ek dhed mahine tak khaaya maine khaana to mere paise jo hain na baraabar ho gaye. (They’d look at me and offer me food and I would accept. I did this for 1-1.5 months and settled the fees).”
Nawazuddin stars in Heropanti 2 as Laila alongside Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria. The film has been directed by Ahmed Khan and is scheduled to release on 29 April.
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