"I haven't been paid my dues for two-and-a-half years" - Siddharth Arora

These times of lockdown have indeed been rather difficult for one and all out there, and the actors are no different. We all know the row currently going on about the non-payment of dues that the cast of Hamari Bahu Silk and how the protests for the same are also going on.

However, it isn't just the cast of that show and, in fact, there are several other actors who have also faced the issue of non-payment of dues.

One of them is actor Siddharth Arora. Arora was a part of the Colors show, Laado 2 which went off-air back in May 2018. Arora replaced Shaleen Malhotra as the lead and he has been regularly following up with the production house and producer Dhaval Gada for two years to get their dues cleared. He even appraoched CINTAA Cine And TV Artistes' Association) and he decided to open up about how he has been mentally and financially harassed.

In an interview with Bombay Times, he said, “For the last two years, I have been regularly following up with the producer of the show for clearing my dues. I have made innumerable calls and visited the production house office, but in return, I have only received humiliation and harassment. Every time I make a call, they promise to clear the dues, but I haven’t found any solution to this. In the current pandemic situation, I am facing serious financial issues and I need the money. Last month, they assured us that they will settle the dues and I received a cheque, but it has bounced! What do I do now? We all know that a bounced cheque is actually a criminal offence.”

The actor found the contract of Laado 2 lopsided, as he said, “The contract was stringent and one-sided. They had introduced clauses like paying 90 per cent of the production cost, which amounts to Rs 9 lakh per day, if I was late by a few hours. I would have to also pay a fine of Rs 5 crore if I fell in love with a co-actor or technician. But, there is no fine being levied on the production house which fails to pay dues on time. It has been two-and-a-half years, but they are yet to pay the full amount. By mentioning this, I want to share how contracts for actors are generally lopsided and favour the production house. They never look into the interests of the artiste. The past few months have been hard on us actors. I am requesting CINTAA and the production house to consider this important, as I have to earn my daily bread.”

What do you think about the same? Leave in your comments below.