‘It was Archana who hassled us’

Recently, Archana Gupta, the lead heroine of Circus, announced she had not been paid adequately for the film. ���Dayal still owes me Rs 50,000. It was his choice not to give it to me,��� she had told BT.
But Dayal, the director and producer of the film, has a different story to tell. ���I was shocked when I read the report in BT. I don���t owe Archana any money.Instead, it was she who kept pestering me to pay her an extra amount, besides her remuneration,��� says Dayal.
He adds, ���When Archana signed Circus, she had agreed to do the film for Rs 2.5 lakh, which was also written in the agreement. She was fine with it even when we were shooting the film. It���s only when the movie was nearing completion and had to shoot for an additional six days that she began making some unreasonable demands.��� Dayal maintains that the actress told him that unless she was given Rs 25,000 every day for those six days, she would not report for shooting. ���She was asking me to pay her Rs 1.5 lakh in addition to the Rs 2.5 lakh, which had been agreed upon as her remuneration. But since she was adamant and the completion of my film was at stake, I agreed to give her Rs 50,000,��� Dayal tells us.
He claims that he even tried to make Archana understand that since she was a newbie and was getting a chance to be a part of a ���premium��� film, she had to compromise on the amount. ���But she didn���t listen to me and kept hassled us. So I gave her Rs 37,500,��� he says.
Later, when the crew left for an overseas shoot, Archana billed the makers for a new make-up kit that cost Rs 25,000. ���I even reimbursed that. So today, if she claims I owe her money, I feel more cheated than her. I may have to give her another Rs 12,500, but what about her misusing my funds to buy a make-up kit?��� asks Dayal.
He says that most Mumbai artistes behave this way. ���Till they sign the project, they���re all very polite. But the minute they know we can���t complete a film without them, they start their nakras. Sakkath problem kodtaare,��� says an agitated Dayal.