Varun Grover reveals Farhan Akhtar was paid Rs 45 lakh per episode on TV

Screenwriter and director Varun Grover recently opened up about his journey in the film industry. He is known for writing acclaimed films like Masaan, Supermen of Malegaon, and most recently, Homebound—the Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter starrer that premiered at Cannes this year. Grover began his career in television and recently revealed why he quit the medium.

Varun Grover reveals why he quit TV

Varun wrote for comedy shows such as The Great Indian Comedy Show and Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun. However, it was while writing for the talk show Oye! It’s Friday!, hosted by Farhan Akhtar, that he began to reconsider his decision to work in television. In an interview with The Lallantop, Varun shared how he realised that performers were not adding much value to his written material. He also learned about the wide wage gap between actors and writers during that time. “After Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun, I joined Farhan saab’s Oye! It’s Friday! It was during my time there that I realised that there was not much value addition happening from the side of the performer to the material I was writing for them,” he said. 

“That was also the first time I got to know how much actors make doing such shows. Even though I had an idea prior to that as well, I did not assume the gap to be so big. But once I learned about it—maybe it’s false information and somebody told me this only to provoke me; I can’t say for sure—I realised the gap was huge. He was being paid Rs 45 lakh for each episode, while I was earning just Rs 45,000,” Varun said.

Varun on shooting lavish shows

Varun further mentioned that the show was shot on a big budget with an elaborate set. He joked that some of the props on the set cost as much as his daily remuneration. “The show was shot in Yash Raj Studios. It was a really good, expensive set. Had I stolen one of those twinkling balls hanging there each day, my daily Rs 45,000 would’ve been covered. That was the first time I saw such a dazzling set,” Varun added jokingly.

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