Mandakini reveals she wasn't paid for 16-17 films: ‘Contracts were very informal’

Mandakini revealed that she occasionally agreed to work on films without charging a fee, particularly when filmmakers or colleagues requested her help.

Veteran actor Mandakini has opened up about her early years in the Hindi film industry, recalling the informal and close-knit atmosphere on film sets and revealing that she was never paid for around 16 to 17 films during her career.

Mandakini spoke about early industry days.

'I enjoyed the movies a lot'

Speaking to ANI in an exclusive interview, Mandakini recalled that she enjoyed working with her colleagues and described the atmosphere on film sets as warm, personal and “homely.”

“I enjoyed the movies a lot. They were all very nice. They were all very cooperative. And it was a fun atmosphere and very homely,” Mandakini recalled.

Comparing the working environment of that era with the present, the Ram Teri Ganga Maili actor said interactions between actors and other members of the film fraternity were much more informal.

“The atmosphere used to be very good. Everyone used to eat together, and there was no such thing as asking someone before meeting an actor. Everyone used to sit together, and anyone could go to anyone's room. It used to feel good and used to feel homely,” she said.

The actress said the informality also extended to the way films were signed and payments were handled at the time.

She recalled that contracts were often less complicated, with people sometimes simply asking an actor to sign a film, while payment arrangements were settled later.

“In films, their contracts were very informal. People used to say, come on, sign the film. And after that, sometimes you get a payment, sometimes you don't. That too used to happen,” Mandakini recalled.

'There were 16 to 17 movies which I never got paid for'

She went on to reveal that she occasionally agreed to work on films without charging a fee, particularly when filmmakers or colleagues requested her help for a limited number of days.

“They used to request you to do a 15-day work, and I used to say, ‘Okay, no problem’,” Mandakini said when asked if she had acted for free.

However, Mandakini revealed that while she eventually received payment for most of her work, there were several films for which she never received any money. “I used to get paid, ultimately, but there were 16 to 17 movies which I never got paid for,” she said.

Explaining how such situations arose, the actress said some films were left incomplete or unreleased, while in other cases the final payment was never cleared.

“There was a divide between the three films. So, one film was released, and the last two were not released. Or the last payment was not released. So, there were a lot of such cases,” she explained.