From Deepika Padukone doing her debut film Om Shanti Om for free to Shah Rukh Khan not charging any fees for his cameo in Brahmastra, there have been many actors who have acted in a movie without taking a single penny for the same. Another addition to this list is Shahid Kapoor, who did the 2014 crime drama Haider absolutely free.
Director Vishal Bhardwaj adapted William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet into the Kashmir setting for Haider, his third installment in the Shakespearean trilogy after Maqbool and Omkara. Set during the insurgency-hit Kashmir of 1990s, the film starred Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon, Irrfan Khan, Aamir Bashir, and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles.
In an interview with Film Companion in 2023, Shahid revealed why he did Haider for free, "They couldn’t afford me. They said if they had to pay me, then the budget of the film wouldn’t get sanctioned because it was a very experimental subject. They really didn’t know if it would land at all but it was a very compelling kind of product to make and so I said, ‘Yeah, I will do it for free'." The actor received immense love from the audiences and critics for his portrayal of the leading character and went on to win his first and only Filmfare Award for Best Actor till date.
Shahid Kapoor in Haider
The 2014 release became a cult classic and was one of the most critically-acclaimed films in the last decade. Haider received five National Film Awards - Best Screenplay and Best Music Direction to Vishal Bhardwaj, Best Male Playback Singer to Sukhwinder Singh for Bismil, Best Choreography to Sudesh Adhana for Bismil, and Best Costume Design to Dolly Ahluwalia.
Haider was the second collaboration between the actor and the filmmaker after the 2009 action drama Kaminey, in which Shahid played a double role. Rangoon, their third film together, bombed at the box office and failed to impress the critics also.
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