Yeh Hai Mohabbatein fame Pankaj Bhatia faces non-payment issues from a TV show; says ‘I haven’t been paid for a year now’ – Times of India

Pankaj Bhatia, a well-known actor, who recently appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi, where his performance was widely praised, has now made headlines by posting a video on social media claiming that he has not received his dues from a television show.
The actor has accused the show’s team of withholding his payment for over a year. Pankaj highlighted that the channel ensured timely payment to the actors.In an 8-minute clip on his Instagram, Pankaj discusses working with reputable production houses and reflects on how the industry used to operate.

He starts the video by mentioning having trouble sleeping and says, “In the industry, there used to be a rule according to which the channel would make sure that the actors’ dues were cleared by the makers once the show went off-air. Once the show wrapped up, the actors were paid for the next three months for better financial security. I started working in Yeh Hain Mohabbatein for six years, and its production house, Balaji, never made me worried about the payment. It has been very fortunate that I have worked with very good producers like Ekta Kapoor and Rajan Shahi.”

However, he goes on to add that for over a year now he hasn’t been paid from a production house. He shared, “After Covid, the show I joined, you know what show I am talking about. So they ran into some crisis because they had they made a film which did not do that well. The show got closed and it has been almost like a year now that I have not been paid. It has been more than a year that I have been working without payment. I have pursued them a lot. I have pursued them for the last six months and after a lot of persuasion, they paid me just Rs. 50,000 rupees. And you will be surprised to know that the maintenance of the building I live in is only Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 35,000.”
He also shared that he has been living by borrowing from his friends and family and pushing himself.

His Yeh Hai Mohabbatein co-stars have extended their support towards him. Divyanka Tripathi, Aly Goni, Krishna Mukherjee and Vivek Dahiya took to social media to share Pankaj’s story.

Aly Goni wrote, “This is so sad yaar. Again same thing same issue with actors where are those so called actor unions? Why they r not coming forward to help? @pankajbhatiaa bhai stay strong.” Divyanka wrote, “Even I wish actors and echnicians were valued better on human grounds. Industry is non-empathic on various levels. I hope you, your team and our work force in entirety gets better working grounds.”
Pankaj further revealed that along with him around 50-60 artists are awaiting their payment as well.