Not just Chehre, Amitabh Bachchan also did Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black for free; here’s why

Actor Amitabh Bachchan was so impressed with the script of his latest film Chehre that he not only agreed to do it for free, but also paid for his own travel when the production moved to Poland. But for tax reasons, producer Anand Pandit said recently, the actor was billed as a ‘friendly appearance’ in the film.

But Chehre isn’t the first time that Amitabh Bachchan has waived off a fee for appearing in a film. Years ago, he did Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black free of cost, just because he wanted to work with the director. And Amitabh ended up winning a National Award for his acclaimed performance as a tutor to a deaf-mute girl, played by Rani Mukerji.

On Black’s 12th anniversary in 2017, Amitabh took to his blog and wrote, “I had just wanted to work with Sanjay, after seeing all his 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!”

He continued, “At the premiere when we all saw the film, there was just those tears of joy within me, and of course the fact of having Dilip Saheb in the audience was a child hood dream coming true. When the film got over, he stood outside the hall, held my hands and just looked into my eyes .. It was, what I could have allowed, to last for a lifetime!”

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

Black was a critical success, and earned Bhansali the clout he needed to make large budget films such as Guzaarish, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat. His next film is the Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi, and following that, he will spearhead the Netflix original series Heeramandi. Incidentally, Alia offered to work for free with him on the planned show.