“I got no money, no work, and got branded a trouble maker because of Anees Bazmee,” Sunil Pal hits back hard

Stand-up comedian Sunil Pal has taken on the big sharks of Bollywood primarily on principle. It s the question of my self-esteem now. They (Anees Bazmee and his friends who allegedly refused to pay his money) are big successful people. I am a very small artiste. But I work hard to live with dignity. I won t let anyone take that away from me, says Sunil emotionally.

Anees latest salvo has hit Sunil really hard. He says I didn t get paid because I was too drunk to perform at the event where I had gone on Aneesji s request. This is defamatory. And it will be very difficult for him to prove that I was drunk. Because I ve never touched a drop of alcohol in my entire life. My only nasha in life is my work. I don t need alcohol.

Sunil says he never intended to make a hue and cry over the payment. But Aneesji and his friends compelled me to do this. Their intentions were not right. When I agreed to perform at a private function on Aneesji s request it was in the hope of getting work in his film. But I got nothing. No money no work. And after this incident, do you think Aneesji will ever think of giving me work? I ll now be branded a trouble maker.

Sunil says he agreed to do the show only on Anees Bazmee say-so. I was scheduled to perform in Pune at a public event. I gave up that because a filmmaker of Anees Bazmi s stature asked me to do show. How was I to know I wouldn t be paid and I d be maligned for asking for my rightful money? I charged them just a token Rs. 51,000. What is this small amount to a filmmaker of Aneesji s stature? Not only did he distance himself from my payment (after having gotten me on board) he even told me Jo karna hai kar lo when I insisted on being paid. I may be a very small artiste. But I am an artiste, nonetheless. I won t be taken for granted.