Vishal Bhardwaj is a renowned filmmaker and has made several notable projects. In a recent interview, the director spoke about his film Maqbool which gave a fantastic performance at the box office. Talking about it, he went on to reveal that he didn’t earn a single penny from the film as he had to invest in making one scene which was very important for the project.

Vishal shared, "The haveli of Abbaji was in Bhopal. I was very keen to shoot there, because the underworld we show in Maqbool didn't exist in real life at that time. Underworld terrorism ke taraf chala jaa chuka tha, it was an old-world charm. I wanted a haveli with a courtyard, it should feel like a small palace of theirs. And I could find that only in Bhopal. Here in Film City there was a Censor Board office which would double up as a haveli for shoots in every other film. Bobby Bedi was our producer, he finalised that we'd shoot in Bhopal for 2 days. One day, out of the blue, he said, we don’t have the budget to go to Bhopal, you shoot here in Film Division's office. Uska naam tha Film Division ki Haveli. Maine bola main nahi karunga. Usne bola main film nahi banaunga. Maine kaha mat banao.”

He further continued, “It was 15 days before shooting was to begin. I shut myself and my phone for two days, did not talk to anyone. After two days Bobby Bedi came to meet me, he wanted to talk. My fees for the film was Rs 30 lakh, for music, direction, writing, everything. So he said, shooting in Bhopal will cost Rs 60 lakh extra. You invest half. I said, meri fees chahiye, le lo ismein. So, then I was not paid a single penny in that film. Till today I have not got a single penny even being a producer.”

Maqbool featured late actor Irrfan, Tabu and Pankaj Kapur in the lead. The film was based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth and set against the backdrop of Mumbai’s underworld.

Source: Mid-Day