Amitabh Bachchan did Chehre for free, paid for his own chartered flight; producer Anand Pandit calls him ‘committed’

Amitabh Bachchan did Chehre for free and even bore his own international travel expenses to shoot the film. Producer Anand Pandit revealed in an interview that for tax reasons, Amitabh Bachchan has been credited for a ‘friendly appearance’ in the film.

The mystery-thriller, directed by Rumi Jafry, also stars Emraan Hashmi, Krystle D’Souza, Rhea Chakraborty, and others. After suffering several delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the film will be released in theatres on Friday.

Responding to a question about Amitabh Bachchan not charging a single penny for Chehre, Anand Pandit told PeepingMoon, “To avoid any trouble while filing the tax books we decided to give the friendly appearance credits to Amit ji.” He added, “Sir was so professional and committed that he also put his own money to commute.”

Rumi spoke about casting Amitabh in a recent interview with a leading daily. He said, “After we finalised Amitabh Bachchan for Chehre, we started looking for other actors. I was looking for the second lead and Emraan fit right into the character I had envisioned. Even though I had never worked with him before, I had heard a lot about him in the industry. He is truly like Amit ji when it comes to professionalism–dedicated, hardworking and allows nothing to interfere with his work. He is very involved in the work he does. I wanted somebody just like him. When I approached him with Chehre, he, too, loved his character and was happy to come on board. Emraan’s work has turned out to be even better than I expected.”

Also read: Kaun Banega Crorepati: When Amitabh Bachchan had to apologise after fans threatened to ‘boycott’ show

Amitabh has a packed slate of films. These include Jhund, a remake of The Intern, Brahmastra, Mayday, and Goodbye. He returned to host the 13th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati last weekend.