From Deepika Padukone to Amitabh Bachchan, celebs who worked free of cost

Sometimes actors don’t do movies just for the money, but also for the exposure, their love for the big screen and learning experience too. Having said that, many prominent actors have often said yes to a project without charging a single penny or almost no money. Let’s have a look at these stars who delivered hit movies, doing them free of cost.

Actress Deepika Padukone made her big Bollywood debut in Om Shanti Om where she shared the screen space with Shah Rukh Khan. For Deepika getting to work with Shah Rukh was a gift in itself, and hence she decided to do the movie for free. Marked with SRK-Deepika’s on-screen romance, the film has attained a cult status.

One of the most bankable actors in the film industry, Rajkummar Rao has gifted his audience with a bunch of versatile characters. One such film, which proved to be a breakthrough for the actor was Vikramaditya Motwane’s Trapped. Speaking about the same in a chat show, Rajkummar revealed that he did the film for free. “Some films are not meant for box office. They are meant for life. I’ll go from this world after 50 years or whatever.. when people talk about 10 films of Rajkummar Rao, and they will talk about Trapped,” he shared.

For the hit film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Sonam Kapoor had a brief cameo appearance for which she charged only a token amount. Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra revealed in his autobiography, ”Sonam Kapoor benevolently accepted to play a guest appearance for a princely sum of ₹11 only for her brief portrayal of Biro. She chose to accept ₹11. She had a special appearance in the film. Both of us shared an amazing journey with Delhi-6 before that. She told me that she is needed for just 7 days for the shoot, and she praised us for trying to say something so beautiful about the partition of this country and the spirit of Milkha Singh. So she wanted to contribute to the film as well. It was very nice of her."

Back in February 2017, Amitabh Bachchan wrote a special blog dedicated to ‘Black’ as it had completed 12 years. He also revealed that he did the film for free. “I had just wanted to work with Sanjay, after seeing all the other works he had done... And when the opportunity came, it was quite overwhelming. I did not take any salary for the film... Just being a part of such an enterprise was sufficient fees!”

Only for the love and passion for acting, Shahid Kapoor chose to work with Vishal Bharadwaj for Haider without charging any fee. Back in July 2014, Bhardwaj shared that when he started planning the film, both Shahid and him agreed that it had to make money from day one. But since Haider was a big film with a huge budget, an ensemble cast, and lavish action pieces, the only way they could make it work was not burden the film with the remunerations. “We kept the secret between us for a long time, but it's finally out,” Bhardwaj told a news portal.

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who essayed the role of the late Urdu writer Sadat Hasan Manto in the film, just charged Re 1. Director Nandita Das shared that, "This the character that an actor would give an arm and leg for. But to not charge even a nominal fee is very gracious of Nawaz," Other actors in the film, including Rishi Kapoor, Javed Akhtar, and Ranvir Shorey too did the movie for free.

Salman Khan has done several cameos in films for free. He guest-starred in Tees Maar Khan, Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani, Om Shanti Om, and Son of Sardaar without charging a single penny.