I Got No Money, No Work, And Got Branded A Trouble Maker: Sunil Pal

Because Of Anees Bazmee,” Comic Actor Sunil Pal Hits Back Hard

Stand-up comedian Sunil Pal has taken on the big sharks ofBollywood primarily on principle. “It’s  the question of my selfesteemnow.  They(Anees Bazmee and his friends who allegedly refused to pay his money) are big successful people. I am a very small artiste. But I work hard to live with dignity.I won’t let anyone take that away from me,” says Sunil emotionally.

Anees’ latest salvo has hit Sunil really hard. “He says I didn’t get paid because I was too drunk to perform at the event where I had gone on  Aneesji’s request.This is defamatory.And it will be very difficult for him to  prove   that I  was drunk. Because I’ve never touched a drop of alcohol  in  my entire life.My only nasha in  life is my work.I don’t need alcohol.”

Sunil says he  never intended to  make a hue and cry over the payment. “But Aneesji and his friends compelled me to do this. Their intentions were not right. When I agreed to perform at  a private function on Aneesji’s request it was in the hope of getting work in his film. But I got nothing . No money no work. And after this incident, do you think Aneesji will ever think of giving me  work?I’ll now be branded a  trouble maker.”

Sunil  says he agreed to do the show only on Anees Bazmee say-so. “I was scheduled to perform in Pune at a public event. I gave up that because a  filmmaker of Anees Bazmi’s stature asked me to do show. How was  I to know  I wouldn’t be paid and I’d be maligned for asking for my rightful money?I charged them just a token 51,000 rupees. What is this small amount to  a filmmaker of Aneesji’s stature?  Not ony did he distance himself from my payment(after having  gotten me on board) he even told me ‘Jo karna hai kar lo’ when I insisted on being paid.I may be  a very small artiste. But I am an artiste, nonetheless. I won’t be taken for granted.”