Nandita Das, Manav Kaul and Saurabh Shukla, who play the lead roles in the remake of the cult film Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai, did not charge any remuneration.
Since it’s an independent film directed and produced by Soumitra Ranade of Jajantaram Mamantaram there were budget constraints. The actors fell in love with the script and offered to work for free. Touched by their gesture, Soumitra has made them partners on the project and will be sharing the box office profit with the three actors once the film is released.
The film has raised Rs 30 lakh through a two-month long crowdfunding campaign on Wishberry which will cease on October 2. The campaign started on August 3 to collect money for the post-production, animation and VFX of the film.
The original film directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza was released in 1980 and starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Om Puri in the lead roles.
Soumitra says, “It was a very challenging film but I could pull it off only because of my supportive actors who worked for free. This is the first script I impressed me so much, that I couldn’t put it down. I know the director well and I knew it was straight from his heart. I told him we have to make this film anyhow, even if we have to do it for free. Such roles don’t come your way often and I didn’t want to let go this brilliant opportunity.” said Manav Kaul.
Actress Nandita Das said, “First, I don’t equate money with work. There is a lot of work that I do without charging anything. Films of course, help me pay my bills and hence I don’t do them without any fees. But seldom do you get a project or a director where you know that they genuinely don’t have the money -- and they just want to make a good film!So you want to participate in that. I think we all have to support each other especially those who are doing things with great honesty, with great integrity.”