Why Vidhu Vinod Chopra paid Soni Razdan for Khamosh only 10 years after the film released
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Star Soni Razdan is on a roll this year, having appeared in a movie and three web series in 2026. The veteran star is known and respected today for her large body of work in both cinema and on streaming. But there was a time when Soni was hustling as well. In the 80s, when the star started her journey, she not only faced rejection but was also not even paid for her work. Except when the payment arrived - 10 years later - it turned into a heartwarming story.
Adding to this, Soni Razdan in a still from the 1986 crime thriller Khamosh. Why Soni Razdan wasn’t paid for Khamosh In a conversation with Hindustan Times, Soni recalled how her remuneration for the 1986 movie Khamosh was the most unusual. “ Vidhu Vinod Chopra is an incredible person. When I worked in Khamosh, I don’t think he gave us any money. He told us, ‘When I sell the movie or when I make the money back, everybody will get it across the board’,” Soni recalls.
Meanwhile, Khamosh was Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s second feature movie. The young filmmaker himself produced and bankrolled the movie. Apart from Soni Razdan, it also starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, and Pankaj Kapoor. The movie became notable for Amol, Soni, and Shabana portraying fictional versions of themselves.
Notably, But for the acclaim it won, Khamosh was not a commercial success when it rolled out in theatres. It was only after it sold its TV rights in the 90s that the movie became a cult success on early cable television. And true to his word, Vidhu Vinod Chopra delivered. Soni says, “Some 10 years later, a cheque came to my house. I shared, ‘Why am I getting this cheque?’ So I called him up, and he shared, ‘I promised you, Soni, I will pay you’.” Getting emotional at the memory of the gesture, the star adds, “That was a really incredible moment.”
As per the latest buzz, Soni of late appeared in two projects: the movie Om Ka Hari and the Netflix show Shaque. Om Ka Hari, written and directed by Harish Vyas, is the story of the tussle between a father and a son, played by Raghubir Yadav and Anshuman Jha, respectively. Soni appears in the movie, along with Ayesha Kapur. The movie rolled out in theatres on September 18.
In further updates, Less than a week later, Soni appeared in Shaque. The series stars Parineeti Chopra in her web series debut, alongside Jennifer Winget, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Soni, Sumeet Vyas, Harleen Sethi, Anup Soni, and Dhruv Chowdhury. Created by Siddharth P Malhotra and directed by Rensil D’Silva, the series began streaming on Netflix on September 24.
On top of that, Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Movie Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world. Read More
Source: Hindustan Times