Anurag Kashyap Tweets in favour of Richa Chadda- says ‘Gang of Wasseypur’ is still a flop for the studio
Bollywood’s sultry actress Richa Chadda made several controversial remarks via the social media platform and touched upon the most sensitive issues of the industry like nepotism, discrepancies in not giving actors royalties for their films and more through her blog. She also openly about how much did she earn for her work in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur‘. Richa received 2.5 lakhs for both the series of which she isn’t upset. However, she exclaimed that inspite of the film’s success on the big screen, she and other co workers did not receive a fair share by the studio.
Richa penned down about the same as,
“Change is messy and uncomfortable, but not changing may be fatal. So why can’t actors be paid royalty? It is a small price to pay for the loss pf perpetual anonymity. Ditto for directors? Writers? I was paid Rupees 2,50,000 (two lacs fifty thousand) for ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ both parts and that’s alright. Kashyap took a chance on me, and for that I am forever grateful. I didn’t even expect to be paid for a break like that. The film went on to become a cult hit. My continuing career is a testament to that. However, someone somewhere must make money from a film’s continued popularity”- Richa
Upon this, the film maker of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ Anurag Kashyap completely supported Richa. He too mentioned that majority of the actors got paid like Richa and that he too had to lessen his fees to curate the film. He also added that the film is “still a flop” for the studio and they did not receive a penny on it.
In response to Richa, Anurag Tweeted, “She is right. Most actors and crew got paid similar amounts or less and I had to forfeit my entire fees to make GOW. Funny thing is we still own 50% IPR on ‘GOW’ and we have never seen a penny on it or know about it’s income. For the studio it’s still a flop,”
Anurag further wrote, “Despite the film being seen the world over and playing on various OTT platform, according to them they haven’t made any money on a film that was made under 18 crore. And then they actually once a few years back asked me to make a part 3.”
Stating facts about remarkable Bollywood actors of the past who haven’t received any royalty for their work, Richa wrote,
“If I am not wrong, again, (going by rules for residual payments in other film industries) even if I were to earn royalty of this film, (if I worked under the SAG guidelines, I would get only be getting a small percentage, under different categories capped at a maximum of 6.2 percent). Does it make sense that a huge star like Parveen Babi allegedly didn’t have enough money for her treatment in her final years? Ditto Hangal saab? Or that Bhagwan Dada lived in a chawl in his final years? I am aware of my desire to see all credited departments get their due in terms of royalty is the most unrealistic dream. It just will not happen, at least not in my lifetime,”- Richa
