Shahid Kapoor says the makers of Haider “could not afford” him, so he gave it to them for free

Vishal Bhardwaj produced Haider in 2014, and it has since become one of the most often rewatched movies in Indian cinema history. The movie, which starred Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, and Kay Kay Menon in the key roles, focused on a young man called Haider who returned to Jammu and Kashmir during the bloody conflict in order to get closure over the abduction of his father. Shahid recently explained why he decided to work on the movie for free, even though it was already well known that he received no payment for his part.

Shahid said in an interview that the team couldn’t afford him. They were unable to afford me. They said that since the topic of the movie was so experimental, the budget wouldn’t be approved if they had to compensate me. Even though they had no idea whether it would succeed at all, it was a highly intriguing sort of product to create, so I agreed to develop it for free.

Shahid said that he made an exception for Haider when asked whether he had worked on previous films for free. “I only ever done it once. It had just occurred at that moment. Yes, let’s do it; it’s alright, I said. Then, as he grinned, he said, “Ghar bhi chalana hai (I have to take care of my household as well).”

In the meanwhile, there are rumors that Shahid may collaborate once again on a major box office hit with Padmaavat director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. According to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to Pinkvilla, Shahid and Bhansali have been discussing a very special movie for a few months. “Shahid and SLB appreciate one another and are debating the notion of working together on a unique project. The narrative was entirely written by Bhansali’s writing team, and movie is a pure masala entertainment. Over the last several months, the director has been actively working on casting the picture and has been in-depth discussions about every possible combination of the picture with Shahid.

Shahid Kapoor also already has three movies scheduled after that. He will soon be featured in the movies Bull, Woh Kaun Thi, and Impossible Love Story, which was directed by Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah.