Hindi films may have become synonymous with the 100-crore club. But, there are stories pertaining to one rupee that remain legendary. Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who celebrates his birthday today, too has one interesting Re 1 story. Read on
Updated On: 2019-07-07 10:11 AM IST
In 2013, a Re 1 currency note printed in 1958 was the fee Milkha Singh accepted to let Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra base his film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag on the Flying Sikh.
In 2010, when Salman Khan was approached for a Yashraj film, he supposedly told Aditya Chopra that he would charge Re 1 more than what Shah Rukh Khan is paid
The film 'Nawabi Sharabi', which marked the Bollywood debut of Kader Khan's son Shah Nawaz (left) revolves around a Gujarati family, which has to spend a night with only one rupee since they have exhausted all their money on drinking and partying.
Rajinikanth flipping the one rupee coin in his inimitable style in 'Sivaji The Boss' is a much-loved aspect of the film, especially among crazy Rajini fans
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has charged a meagre single rupee for Haraamkhor as a token of his efforts
Amjad Khan's brother Imtiaz Khan revealed during an interview that in spite of becoming a megastar post-Sholay, Amjad worked with a producer who couldn't pay him for a fee of one rupee per day
In an interview post the release of Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Anushka Sharma stated 'I can do a film for one rupee as well'
Although there is no particular anecdote over this, it is said that the one-rupee rivalry existed as long back as the Amitabh Bachchan-Rajesh Khanna era, wherein a star demands one rupee more than his competitor
Yesteryear star Sadhana was part of the first-ever Sindhi film Abana. She played the role of the heroine's younger sister and is said to have been paid a token amount of Re 1.
Bimal Roy wanted to cast Madhubala in Biraj Bahu (1954). However, since she was among the highest-paid actors of that time, Roy felt he wouldn't be able to pay the same and hence chose Kamini Kaushal. When Madhubala learnt about this, she is reported to have lamented that she would have performed in the film for even one rupee as a fee.
Raj Kapoor, it is believed, charged only one rupee from friend Shailendra for being part of the 1966 film Teesri Kasam.
Apparently, noted poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi is also said to have demanded a fee that was one rupee more than Lata Mangeshkar, which led to a rift in his relationship with Lata as well as S D Burman.
After the Supreme Court quashed the ban imposed on Aarakshan by the Punjab government, director Prakash Jha asked for Re 1 as symbolic payment.
The producer of the much-delayed film '3 Bachelors' filed a 'one rupee' court case against lead actor Sharman Joshi for not promoting the movie.
Following the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, filmmaker Vikram Bhatt launched a campaign to raise funds to rebuild the iconic Taj Hotel. He requested every Indian to donate one rupee each.
And finally, the two rupee story
The film 'Manthan' was made by collecting two rupees each from the milk farmers of Gujarat. The idea was the brainchild of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of the 'White Revolution'
One from the world of sports
Sachin Tendulkar's coach Ramanath Achrekar would place a one rupee coin on top of the stumps and would give the coin to the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar. However, if the batsman remained not out at the end of a session, he would get the coin. The master blaster managed to collect as many as 13 coins from his coach