Desperate because she was jobless, veteran actor wanted to ‘slap and abuse’ Balaji Telefilms for offering peanuts to do Pavitra Rishta

In a recent interview, veteran actor Usha Nadkarni opened up about being paid peanuts for her role in Ekta Kapoor's iconic TV show Pavitra Rishta.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 21, 2025 08:50 AM IST

Usha Nadkarni talks about auditioning for Pavitra Rishta and being paid in peanuts

Veteran actor Usha Nadkarni, best known for playing the role of Savita Deshmukh in the popular TV show Pavitra Rishta, spoke about her decades-long career and the struggles that she has faced along the way. She opened up about her solitary personal life, and also expressed her irritation at the idea of auditions. She said that she was made to audition by Ekta Kapoor’s production house Balaji Telefilms, but had no choice because she’d quit her day job and was desperate for work. Usha said that despite having worked with Balaji before, she was offered peanuts for Pavitra Rishta.

Starring late actor Sushant Singh Rajput and actor Ankita Lokhande, Pavitra Rishta was one of the longest-running shows on Zee TV; it ran from 2009 to 2014. In an interview with Pinkvilla, Usha revealed that she was jobless at the time. “I went for an audition. There was no work at that time. I was sitting at home, I had left my job. For Balaji, I had already done Thodi Si Zameen, Thoda Asmaan and Kuch Iss Tarah, fir bhi mujhe audition ke liye bulaaya (they called me to audition), I lost my mind. I didn’t have work so I still went to audition,” she shared.

The actor added, “One more artist from our Marathi industry was already there. They gave the dialogues to both of us to read. Dimaag garam tha (I was angry), saree pehni, baal baandhe khud hi, they called me after her audition was done. I learned one and a half pages of dialogues and did it.”

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After the audition, Usha was called to the Balaji office to finalise her salary for the role, and to her shock, the amount was peanuts. “I then got a call to come down to the office after two days. When they told me the fees, I wanted to slap the person sitting in front of me. Wanted to abuse him, I know a lot of cuss words. If I say them, they would feel bad, but kya karun? Khujli thi kaam karne ki (I wanted work, hence I did it),” she said.

After giving a nod, she was happy to receive the audience’s appreciation. “When I did it, everyone felt good, Ekta ma’am was also happy. People used to ask me on the streets that why am I torturing Ankita, I told them because I get money to do that. I have travelled a lot because of Pavitra Rishta, I even went to Israel. People were mad for that serial there,” Usha concluded.

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