Amrish Puri charged just one rupee more than hero, drove own car; ‘Not mad to distribute hard-earned money among staff’ | Hindi Movie News
Veteran actor Saurabh Shukla recently talked about the ongoing debate about actors’ entourage expenses in the Hindi film industry. He referred to the late Amrish Puri as an example, explaining that Puri traveled with just one make-up artist and drove his own car, keeping the entourage costs extremely low.Meeting Amrish Puri on the set of ‘Nayak’While speaking to ANI, Saurabh recalled his experience working with Amrish in the 2001 hit film ‘Nayak: The Real Hero’. He revealed that Amrish’s personality was quite unlike what he had imagined a star to be. Reflecting on the time, Saurabh said, “At that time, it was enough for me that I was cast in a film. It was a big film and with a big co-stars like Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri. It was a good experience. We enjoyed a lot working on the film. It was also the first time I met Amrish Puri sahab. I met him at a time in my life when I would look at stars from a distance, and what we understood from being a star was that they carry an entourage with them.”Amrish Puri’s frugal approachReflecting on Puri’s work style and his frugal approach, he revealed, “But on the set of the film, I got to know… by the way, Amrish Puri used to charge one rupee more than the lead actor in his films. This shows he was such a big star but he didn’t have a secretary and he didn’t have a driver. He had just a make-up man, that’s all. I asked him, ‘Don’t you have a staff?’ He responded, ‘Main pagal hoon kya? Paise main kamao aur banta rahoon staff mein (Am I mad that I earn all my money and distribute it to the staff). That is the reason I have come to this interview driving my own car, and I don’t go with an entourage.’”Cast of ‘Nayak: The Real Hero’‘Nayak: The Real Hero’ features Anil Kapoor as Shivaji Rao, a TV reporter who becomes the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Rani Mukerji plays Manjari, Shivaji’s love interest, while Amrish Puri portrays the corrupt Chief Minister Balraj Chauhan. Paresh Rawal appears as Bansal, Chauhan’s secretary, and Johnny Lever plays Topi, Shivaji’s cameraman. The cast also includes Pooja Batra, Saurabh Shukla, Shivaji Satam, Neena Kulkarni, and Raja Krishnamoorthy. The film includes several supporting roles and special appearances.
