Hansal Mehta opened up recently about casting Manoj Bajpayee for Re 1 for a film when the latter was not a big name. He also shared how Anurag Kashyap wrote the script for another of his films in two days, as he was desperate to get money to pay rent.
During an interview, Hansal said that he and Manoj were brainstorming at the latter’s apartment. “We were discussing ideas. And he went to sleep while talking. Someone knocked on the door; I told the man Manoj was asleep. He said he wants to meet me and was a huge fan of my film Highway. He said he has been looking for me.”
Hansal asked the person if he could write a screenplay based on the idea which he had. “He said he can write but needs Rs 15000, as he has to pay three months rent,” Hansal said. “He gave me the screenplay in 48 hours, as he needed the money.”
The person was Anurag Kashyap, who got paid Rs 75,000 for the 350-page script that he wrote, which was made into Jayate.
Hansal shared another anecdote about how he cast Manoj in his film, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!, which was being written by Saurabh Shukla. One night, he casually asked Manoj to be part of it. “Tab tak Satya aayi nahi thi… And Manoj ko maine 1 rupee signing diya tha uss film ke liye (Satya had not released back then, and I paid Manoj Re 1 as a signing amount for that film),” Hansal said.
The film eventually turned out to be a failure, leading to some tension between Hansal and Manoj, who didn’t speak for over six years. However, they resolved the issue and collaborated later on Aligarh in 2016.