It is not difficult to assume that starring in Mollywood's most anticipated film of the year would come with a hefty paycheck, but it is surprising to find out that this remuneration is something that Mohanlal steered clear of.
Prithviraj Sukumaran, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming directorial L2: Empuraan, disclosed some quite astonishing news — that his lead actor did not demand any payment for his role, an amount we can assume would have been too heavy to fit in anyone's pocket.
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In a recent conversation with Pinkvilla, Prithviraj said he tried to direct all his funds towards making the film, which is when he revealed, "Mohanlal sir has not taken one single rupee for the film. Which is a reason why this film is possible," to which Mohanlal replied, "Not only me, same with Prithvi."
Continuing, Mohanlal said, "You can see it on the screen, the amount that we spent. Some films it won't come in the screen. But definitiely, this film, you watch it and you can see the amount spent."
Elaborating on how the money was allocated for the film, Prithviraj said, "This is not a film where we have spent Rs 100 crore making the film — Rs 80 crore goes as remunerations, and the film is made in Rs 20 crores. All the technicians and all the actors realised that we were attempting something so we might as well try and pitch in. Even all the foreign actors who came on board understood what we were trying to do with the film... All the people that came on board, they've done it as a favour."
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Prithviraj also recalled another big-name Bollywood actor who starred in one of his productions for no amount. "I have produced a film with Akshay Kumar sir, he did not take a single rupee. He said only if the film makes money, then I'll take my remuneration."
"The film did not do well, and he did not take any money," the filmmaker concluded. Prithviraj was involved in the production of the Hindi film Selfiee, starring Kumar. The comedy-drama, which was a remake of the Malayalam film Driving Licence, performed poorly at the box office.
L2: Empuraan, the sequel to the 2019 film Lucifer, will hit theatres on March 27.
