Kiran Rao on ads, not feature films, to make ends meet in Mumbai: ‘I was worried about paying rent’ | Bollywood News
Kiran Rao, director of “Laapataa Ladies”, recently revealed that despite working in a few feature films as an assistant director, she was not earning enough to survive in Mumbai.
Before becoming a successful film director, Kiran Rao worked as an assistant director in various projects.Aamir Khan’s masterpiece “Lagaan”. In a recent interaction, Kiran revealed that despite appearing in a few feature films, she was not earning enough money to survive in Mumbai, so an advertisement job saved her. Laapataa Ladies The director said he provided her with the financial support she needed to live in the city.
“I used to be a gig economy worker,” she said on the podcast Cyrus Says. “You get a job, you work till you get paid, then look for another job, worry about whether your savings will last, whether you can pay your rent.” When the host pointed out that she worked on Lagaan, suggesting that she could have been paid more, she replied, “Feature films didn’t make money. It was ads that gave me money to live in Mumbai. Lagaan was kind of when the first advertising system started to be introduced.” She also revealed that her advertising work enabled her to buy “super expensive things” like a computer and a car.
you
Monthly limit of free stories.
Read more stories for free
If you have an Express account.
With your digital subscription you will receive this story plus exclusive insights and in-depth analysis.
This premium article is free for now.
Sign up to get access to more free articles and offers from our partners.
With your digital subscription you will receive this story plus exclusive insights and in-depth analysis.
This content is exclusive to subscribers.
Subscribe today and get unlimited access to exclusive and Premium articles from The Indian Express.
During the conversation, Kiran also shared that she bought her first car for Rs 10 lakh from her father. “I bought a car from my father. He sold it to me for Rs 10 lakh. Have you heard? He said, ‘This is the only way to save money’. We drove from Bangalore to Mumbai on the newly built expressway,” she said.
In the same podcast, she spoke about her struggles while working as an AD in Lagaan, “If I was having a coffee, I would get yelled at if something went wrong. I would get yelled at all the time. Reema Kagti was a tough deputy AD, she was always complaining to me. She was the one running around. We were just four ADs running around on a huge set. The film was shot with live sound, the first big-budget film to have it. It was all outdoors and we were far away from everything.”
Click for more details, latest Bollywood news, entertainment updates and get the latest breaking news and top stories from India and around the world with The Indian Express.
© IE Online Media Services, Inc.
First uploaded: 06 Feb 2024 19:08 IST
