Manav Kaul recalls chilling with Sushant Singh Rajput in his ‘bigger hotel room’ during Kai Po Che: ‘I was in a smaller place’

Manav Kaul recalled hanging out with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput while they worked together on Kai Po Che.

New Delhi | June 16, 2023 04:46 PM IST

3 min read

Manav Kaul and Sushant Singh Rajput worked together on the film Kai Po Che.

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Actor-writer-filmmaker Manav Kaul, who still lives in a 1 BHK apartment in Mumbai, said that nothing is sadder than extremely wealthy actors who live in massive bungalows but have no work. In a new interview, he said that most actors are overpaid, and that if big budgets are available, then below-the-line crew should be compensated better. Speaking with Siddharth Kannan, Manav also recalled working with Sushant Singh Rajput on the film Kai Po Che.

Even though Manav had been a part of the industry for over a decade at that point, and Sushant was only making his film debut, it was Sushant who was given a fancy hotel room, while Manav and other supporting actors were put up in a different hotel. He said in Hindi, “I knew Sushant a little bit from the theatre circuit. I had only one scene with him in the movie. But we used to hang in his hotel room. Because he was a big star, he was given the bigger hotel room. I was in a smaller place; it’s normal.”

Also read | Rhea Chakraborty hugs Sushant Singh Rajput in throwback video on 3rd death anniversary: ‘I wish you were here’

The actor continued, “I’d go over to his room, we had dinner there, we played the guitar. He used to enjoy video games a lot. It was fun… I like to say that Kai Po Che is my first film, because when I returned to acting after 12 years, I felt that the industry had changed. Actors were having serious conversations about performance, there was sync sound, more thought was being paid to the craft.”

Despite his recent success, Manav Kaul said that he lives simply. “I don’t need too much money. I’m happy. I feel actors are overpaid, technicians should be better compensated. I’ve said this before. I notice on the projects I do that the people behind the camera work much harder than actors,” he said. Manav said that he works in theatre because he loves it. “Why else would I? It’s not like you get a lot of fame or money from theatre. It’s a niche audience, and people forget… After a point, what can you do with all the money? I know so many actors who live in big bungalows but don’t have work. That’s such a sad life. But doing good work is so satisfying.”

Manav was recently seen in the Netflix series The Fame Game and the Amazon Prime Video film Jalsa.

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