MUMBAI : Laado 2 wrapped up more than 2 years ago, but lead actor Siddharth Arora is still waiting for his dues to be cleared. He had replaced Shaleen Malhotra as the new lead. However, after pursuing the production house and producer Dhaval Gada for two years, and approaching CINTAA (Cine And TV Artistes' Association), the actor has decided to open up on his situation.

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.”

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Siddharth has also been part of many shows like 'Singhasan Battisi', 'Krishna Kanhaiya', and 'Doli Armaanon Ki'. 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.”

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Credits: TOI