Did you know Chunky Pandey was once offered ₹5 lakh to do 'rona dhona' at businessman's funeral?
Stars are often invited to appear at weddings and inaugurations, but did you know that Chunky Pandey was once offered ₹5 lakh to attend a businessman's funeral? Here's what he did.
Actors have freely admitted to agreeing to appear at weddings and other such events, but did you know that Chunky Pandey was once offered ₹5 lakh to appear at a funeral?
In 2009, the actor said that he was taken aback when a Mulund business family requested that he attend the funeral of the scion, to give the impression to the guests that the businessman had invested in a film, and the family would therefore be unable to repay certain debts. Chunky told Mumbai Mirror that he 'nearly fainted at the offer'.
He added, "They wanted me to do a bit of rona-dhona and stand in a corner very quietly during the entire funeral. They said: 'That would help us convince them (the creditors) that he'd been putting together a film with some actors, including you'."
Chunky said that he eventually declined the offer, but after observing the family's 'plight', decided to send in a replacement -- 'fairly well-known middle-rung actor' that he refused to identify. "I am not at a liberty to disclose who went instead of me, except to say the guy went very readily. ₹5 lakh is not a small amount for standing like a statue for few minutes at an occasion where you are not going to talk much any way," he said.
Chunky said that he refused to accept a 'commission' for the arrangement, but noted that as an actor he wants to act 'in movies, not at funerals'.
Also read: ‘People had forgotten me, I could not keep my success’: Chunky Pandey
After a successful start in Bollywood, Chunky, by his own admission, was 'forgotten' by the industry, and developed a huge fan following in Bangladesh. He returned to Bollywood after half-a-decade at the insistence of his wife.
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