A dancer and content creator, in a since archived social media post, alleged on Friday that she and her team had not received payment for their work on rapper Badshah’s music video for the song, Slow Slow.
“So recently, I worked with Badshah for his song Slow Slow. The shoot took place on October 3 and 4 (three months back) and none of the dancers have received their payment. And the worst part is no one is responding to our calls and messages,” she wrote.
Talking to Silverscreen India, the dancer, who requested anonymity, further stated, “We shot the video in October in Hyderabad. We were told after the shoot that it would take three weeks for the payment to be processed. After waiting for that duration, we started asking why the payment was delayed and we were continuously asked to wait for further days. When we did not receive the payment even in December, I kind of dropped it because it felt like we were begging for our own money.”
She alleges that the choreographers, designers and dancers who worked on the video have all not received their payment.
The dancer’s social media statement had further said, “And this is not the first time he has done this, he did the same with the Bawwla girls and the Jugnu girls too. I kindly request everyone to share this as much as you can so that people can see the truth behind these ‘Trending Songs’.”
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Speaking to us, she explained that seeing someone share a similar experience was what pushed her to come out with her own experience. “Yesterday, another dancer posted about this and when I saw it, I realised we should talk about this too. I even doubted if there was some foul play from the coordinator because no one around me could believe that I was not paid after working for someone as famous as Badshah.”
While the rapper and his team are yet to officially comment on the issue, the dancer said they got a personal message from him apologising for the same. “Badshah personally messaged me after my post blew up and said that he had no idea about this. He also said that he will make sure the payments of everyone are processed by Tuesday. I have told him that while I believe him, I will not remove the post until the money actually gets transferred.”
Meanwhile, Riya Murao, another dancer-content creator whose post had brought attention towards a similar non-payment issue after working with Badshah, shared on her Instagram stories on Saturday that the matter was resolved and the payments were completed.
Last week, Murao, who featured in Badshah’s music video for Bawra, had alleged that her entire team was yet to be paid even after two months. Once her post garnered attention on social media, the rapper’s team appears to have completed the pending payments.
Badshah’s manager is yet to respond to Silverscreen India’s queries regarding this.