'Farhan Akhtar got ₹45 lakh while I earned just ₹45,000': Varun Grover reveals why he quit writing for TV

Varun Grover mentioned that writing for Farhan Akhtar-hosted Oye! It's Friday! made him aware of the stark salary differences between writers and performers.

Screenwriter-director Varun Grover recently opened up about his journey in the entertainment industry. He may be known for writing films like Masaan, Superboys of Malegao and most recently Homebound, but his career began with writing for Indian television. While talking about his experience, Varun mentioned an incident that pushed him to quit working for the small screen. (Also read: Sandeep Reddy Vanga did ‘badtameezi’ after Animal release and Anurag Kashyap defended him: Varun Grover)

Varun Grover opened up about why he quit writing for TV after Farhan Akhtar's Oye! It's a Friday show.

Varun opened up about his career in TV industry

Varun, has written for comedy shows like The Great Indian Comedy Show and Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun. However, writing for Oye! It’s Friday!, a celebrity talk show hosted by Farhan Akhtar, gave him second thoughts about his career in the TV industry. In an interview with Lallantop, Varun recalled that it was during Oye! It's Friday!, he realised that there was not much value added from the performer's end to his written material.

Also, he got to know about the wide earning gap between writers and performers.

Why did he quit after Farhan's show

“That was also the first time I got to know how much actors make doing such shows. Even though I had an idea prior to that as well, I did not assume the gap to be so big. But once I learnt about it – maybe it’s false information and somebody told me this only to provoke me; I can’t say for sure – I realised the gap was huge. He was being paid ₹45 lakh for each episode, while I was earning just ₹45,000,” Varun said.

He also spoke about the scale of production, revealing how lavish the set was. “The show was shot in Yash Raj Studio. It was a really good, expensive set. Had I stolen one of those twinkling balls hanging there each day, my daily ₹45,000 would’ve been sorted. That was the first time I saw such a dazzling set," Varun said in jest.