Playing a eunuch was a big decision: Rajkummar Rao

Shahid hero���s Bengali debut a martyr to chit fund muddle
After Saradhagate hit Bengal, chit fund companies came under the scanner last year. Among the films that got stuck as a result is Ami Sairabanu, which was supposed to mark the Tollywood debut of Rajkummar Rao, adjudged the Best Actor for Shahid at the 61st National Film Awards on Wednesday.
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Rajkummar, who plays a eunuch in the Bengali film, spoke to us minutes after winning his first national award.���I feel really sad because I had given a lot of myself to the film. Playing a eunuch was a big decision, that too in a film which wasn���t in my mother tongue. I learnt Bengali for the film. I haven���t even got paid my due amount. It was a really bad experience. However, it wouldn���t deter me from going the Tolly way again. Just that I have to be really careful from now on,��� said Rajkummar, who shared the award with Suraj Venjaramoodu.
Debutant director Rahul Mukherjee had told us earlier, ���After completing 80% of the shoot, the producer stopped answering our calls and there���s no money to complete the film. Out of the 50 lakh budget, 21 lakh is pending. I���m working with artistes whose cheques have bounced four times.���
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Producer Hasibul Haque, however, had claimed back then that he had already spent `50 lakh on the film. ���I don���t think there are further dues. If the unit claims otherwise, the production controller should make a list and let me know. I���ll clear it. If the team doesn���t stand by me in such troubled times, I don���t think any producer would ever want to invest in Tollywood. I���ll again start the film when the time is ripe; it���s not been stalled forever,��� he said.
That was last year. Though neither the director nor the producer could be reached on Wednesday, it���s known that 80% of the shoot is complete. Outdoors in Benaras and two days of shoot in Kolkata were all that is left. Last heard, the director has gone back to what he started out with ��� making TVCs. And we���re still waiting to see Rajkummar Rao in Tollywood.