Senior Bollywood actor Mushtaq Khan, popular for playing supporting roles in a number of blockbusters, recently opened up on the pay disparity in showbiz, and he even shared an example from the sets of the film Welcome, which starred Akshay Kumar in the lead.
Khan left everyone surprised when he revealed that he was paid even lesser than Akshay Kumar's staff members during the shoot of Welcome. Not just that, but he was also accommodated in a different hotel than the superstar by the makers.
"My payment might have been lesser than Akshay Kumar’s staff in the film. Unfortunately our films spend a lot of money on ‘stars’. We go everywhere on our own, we travel in economy and stay in the hotels provided by the makers," he shared.
"In Dubai, the hotel I was allotted, was the same hotel in which Akshay’s staff was staying. This happens a lot in big films," he added.
Khan, however, stated that the times are now changing and the current batch of producers make sure to treat everyone equally and take care of them.
He shared that he has been busy of late with the shoot of Stree 2, starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor, and that he receives lot of love and respect from the entire cast and crew of the film, and all of them have fun and create memories together.
"I recently did Railway Men and I had a lot of fun. The production guys gave a lot of respect. The new generation of production people and even actors are doing very well," he mentioned.
For those unversed, Khan played the role of Ballu in the 2007 comic caper Welcome, which also starred Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Katrina Kaif, along with Akshay.
Khan's character in the film has now become one of the funniest ones in the film, with his trademark dialogue, "Meri ek taang nakli hai, main hockey ka bohot bada khiladi tha...".
