EXCLUSIVE: Madhoo opens up about today’s 200-page contracts & their disadvantages, says, “Blindly sign karne ko daar lagta hai”

Actor Madhoo is a well-known actress who made her name for herself during the 90s by starring in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. The actress, during an exclusive chat with Bollywood Bubble recently got candid about many things including how much the work culture has changed in today’s times. While talking about the same, Madhoo also spoke about the contract actors today sign. Read on.

Madhoo on film contracts

Talking about the contracts that actors are made to sign while joining a project, Madhoo says, “I hate it.” She continued, “Yeh agar mein kahu na, mujhe bilkul aacha nahi lagta. Isme do cheez hai – ek toh trust factor nikal jata hai. Pehle hum sirf word pe karte the, haa main karti hu, main aa jaaungi. Yeh mera charge hai, de de. Fir samne se bolta bhi tha producer, ‘leave it yaar, mere pass nahi hai ,‘ Hum chod bhi dete hai. Koi contract nahi tha with which they used to call ki, ‘Yeh sign kiya, yeh sign kiya’ (I don’t like it at all. Earlier, we used to rely solely on word of mouth – ‘Yes, I will do the film, I will come. This is my fee, give it to me. There was no contract where they would call and say, ‘You signed this, you signed that.’).

Abhi, everything is contract based

She continued, “Abhi, everything is contract based. Toh sign blindly karne ko daar lagta hai ki kaal ko main bimaar ho gayi aur set pe nahi gayi toh pata nahi waha (contract pe) kya likha hai. (Now, everything is contract-based. So, you’re afraid to sign blindly, thinking what if I fall ill tomorrow and don’t make it to the set, I don’t know what’s written in the contract.)”

On being probed that notices are even sent on when actors fail to meet the criteria, the actress said, “Hum log uss time pe bohot soulful the. Agar ek bad relation hota tha, boyfriend ke saath breakup hota tha ya kuch bhi, hum agar humare director ko bolte, ‘I’ll come late’ ya ‘Tomorrow, I can’t come, I’m really feeling low, woh adjust kar lete ya toh woh samajh lete. (Back then, we were very soulful. If there was a bad relationship, if there was a breakup with a boyfriend, or anything else, if we told our director, ‘I’ll come late’ or ‘I can’t come tomorrow, I’m really feeling low,’ they would adjust or understand.)”

She concluded, “Today, it’s all on the paper. You have no choice. Aur harr cheez paper mein hain – woh mujhe nahi pasand. (Today, everything is on paper. You have no choice. And everything is in writing – I don’t like it.)”

Watch the full interview here:

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Madhoo on Bollywood’s biasedness towards South Indians: “When people say ‘Madrasan,’ it’s a very derogatory”