Did you know THIS director paid Randeep Hooda for 3 years to not work with anyone?

Randeep Hooda has proved his mettle as a performer with prolific performances in films like ‘Highway’, ‘Once upon a time in Mumbai’, and ‘Cocktail’ amongst others. The actor started his journey in the film industry with Ram Gopal Varma directorial ‘D’ in 2005 which was a gangster crime drama. In an interview with Indian Express in 2011, Randeep Hooda mentioned that he was working with Naseeruddin Shah at this theater group called ‘Motley’ when he got selected for ‘D’ by RGV. Randeep said that Ram Gopal Varma put him on a roll for 35,000 for the next three years.

Randeep Hooda in an interview with Curly Tales spoke about his experience with Ram Gopal Varma and said, “I was picked up by Ram Gopal Varma from the theater. He said I am going to launch you so don’t do any other work. How much do you need a month, I said, “35,000”. So for three years he paid me 35,000 for me to sit at home and do nothing.” As mentioned in a report in Hindustan Times, Randeep spoke to a leading daily about RGV and said, “I was on Ram Gopal Varma’s payroll for 35,000 per month for four years to not work with anyone else. He gave me a great movie after that. Beyond that, both of us couldn’t see a great movie together. I got better offers but turned them down for silly reasons. Reasons which didn’t matter.”

Further, the report, it mentioned that allegedly RGV discouraged Randeep Hooda to sign Rang De Basanti. Randeep said, “I was offered Rang De Basanti. Ramu remarked that I wasn’t the leading man, asked how much money I was getting, etc…. I got a lot of advice from a lot. I worked on eight films with first-time directors. I met many people, and each time I thought the person was my Martin Scorsese. Then there came a time when I stopped reading the papers or hanging out with filmi people. The lack of success can even make you look different. It takes the energy out of you and that’s what happened to me.”