Veteran actor Mandakini has shared memories of her early years in the Hindi film industry, recalling a time when film sets were more informal, friendly and closely connected. In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Ram Teri Ganga Maili actor spoke about the warm atmosphere of those days and revealed that she was never paid for around 16 to 17 films during her career.
Remembering her experience of working in the industry, Mandakini said she enjoyed collaborating with her colleagues and found the environment welcoming. “I enjoyed the movies a lot. They were all very nice. They were all very cooperative. And it was a fun atmosphere and very homely,” she recalled.
Comparing the film industry of the past with the present, Mandakini said actors and other members of the fraternity interacted more freely. According to her, people would often eat together, visit one another without prior appointments and share a much more personal working environment.
“The atmosphere used to be very good. Everyone used to eat together, and there was no such thing as asking someone before meeting an actor. Everyone used to sit together, and anyone could go to anyone’s room. It used to feel good and used to feel homely,” she said.
The actress also spoke about how loosely film contracts and payments were handled during that period. She explained that signing a film was often a simple process, with payment arrangements sometimes being discussed or settled later.
“In films, their contracts were very informal. People used to say, come on, sign the film. And after that, sometimes you get a payment, sometimes you don’t. That too used to happen,” Mandakini said.
She revealed that she sometimes agreed to work without charging a fee when filmmakers or colleagues requested her presence for a short schedule. “They used to request you to do a 15-day work, and I used to say, ‘Okay, no problem’,” she recalled.
However, Mandakini said that although she eventually received payment for most of her work, there were several films for which she never received any money. “I used to get paid, ultimately, but there were 16 to 17 movies which I never got paid for,” she revealed.
Explaining why such situations occurred, she said some films remained incomplete or were never released, while in other cases the final payment was not cleared. “There was a divide between the three films. So, one film was released, and the last two were not released. Or the last payment was not released. So, there were a lot of such cases,” she explained.
