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EXCLUSIVE: Zaan Khan REVEALS Hamari Bahu Silk costar Chahat Pandey attempted suicide over non payment of dues
In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Hamari Bahu Silk actor revealed the ordeal of his crew and cast over the non-payment of dues by producers and more. Read on.
When an artist joins the showbiz world, he or she has so many expectations and dreams. We are often shown the bright and glittery side of the entertainment world, but there's a 'dark and ugly' which is often hidden. Just a few days ago, the cast of Hamari Bahu Silk broke open this gloomy side of the Indian Television world in front of the world. The team called out their producers for non-payment of dues for almost the entire show. Things took a drastic turn and caught attention when reports of started doing the rounds that cast and crew may have to resort to suicide as the last resort.
Zaan Khan, who played the male lead on Hamari Bahu Silk also showed his angst against the producers' negligence and unethical behaviour towards the cast. He called them 'inhumane' for not hearing their pleas, especially during these times of financial distress around the world. We, at Pinkvilla, got in an exclusive conversation with Zaan to know more about the whole fiasco, the crisis that his team is facing, the help they have been receiving, and their further actions on the issue. The handsome actor made some shocking revelations. He revealed that his costar Chahat Pandey, who played his on-screen wife Pakhi, tried to commit suicide due to the non-payment of dues by the producers.
Sharing the young actresses trauma, Zaan stated, 'Chahat had actually attempted to commit suicide, but it was her mother who came to her rescue. Her mother stopped her from taking the drastic step. She has struggled a lot to be an actress, this money means a lot to her. It is the first time that she has earned such a big amount, but to her sheer bad luck, she is deprived of this also. She is the sole earning member in her family, her father is no more, and she has two small brothers and a mother to look after.'
ALSO READ: Hamari Bahu Silk’s Zaan Khan calls out producers for non payment; Says ‘Stop being so inhuman’
Expressing the ordeal of the technicians and daily wage workers of the show, Zaan voiced, 'I've been receiving calls from my crew members, asking for help. They are asking me to talk to the producers and help them get their money back. We all have put in our hearts and souls during those 8 months of shooting, setting dad, spot dada, and others' are crying and pleading on calls just to get their own money back.' An angry Zaan further added, 'We have given the producers enough time, we waited for 6 months patiently, but they don't want to pay any heed. They just don't give a 'f**k' about people's lives anymore.'
Talking about how things went wrong, Zaan mentioned, 'Our show ran for around 6 to 7 months on TV, but we were paid only for 15 days. All actors, technicians, spot, crew, and others' were only paid for 15 days. Initially, the show was produced by Klay Pictures under Devyani Rale and Sudhanshu Tripathi. However, later Jyoti Gupta from Silver Ivory production took over the charge and was introduced as a co-producer. We did not investigate about him much before, but days before the show ended, some of my friends from the industry, told me that Jyoti Gupta is not a nice person, he is a big-time fraud.'
He continued, 'We all were relying on Devyani and Sudhanshu for clearing our dues because most of us took up the show on their goodwill. The show was suddenly called off by them despite fairing well. The channel (Zee TV) revealed that HBS was doing good, but because of the production's mismanagement and misdemeanor, they had to pull the plug. In fact, their fraudulent activities were such that they did not send the 'agreements' of the artistes to the channel, for documentation purposes.'
Revealing why he decided to finally address the issue, the actor said, 'It has been over 8 months and we have been patiently waiting for them to pay off our dues. We (cast and crew) have been begging and pleading to them to give us our money. Two or three people have even tried to commit suicide because they don't have money to feel their family and themselves. It's been two months that the country has been in a lockdown, and situations are just worsening financially for many. So, when things went out of hand and became unbearable, I decided to bring it out in the open.'
