Rohan Gujar, Ketaki Palav say they were replaced over Rs 1,500 pay gap in 'Aamne Samne' row

A dispute involving the cast of the Marathi play 'Aamne Samne' has been in the news for the past few days. Actors Rohan Gujar and Ketaki Palav had alleged that they were abruptly removed from the play, an allegation they made against its producers.

Producers Leena Bhagwat and Mangesh Kadam then put forward their side. In a video shared on social media, they claimed that Rohan and Ketaki had demanded a pay rise for the third time. Rohan and Ketaki have now responded again. Their new video is going viral on social media. They posted it on Instagram with the caption 'Purnaviram from our side'.

In the new video, Rohan and Ketaki said, "We saw our producers' (Leena Bhagwat, Mangesh Kadam) video. We also read the comments on that video and heard the other side of the coin. But while presenting their side, some issues were left out, whether inadvertently, by mistake, for convenience or deliberately. We are making this new video to raise those. After this video, we too have absolutely no wish to make another such video. Our producers spoke of three pay rises as loudly as they could, but did not say with the same force that this was the third increase in eight years. An impression has now formed that we asked for a pay rise three times in one year. That is not the case."

The two went on to say that a third increase in eight years means a pay rise roughly once every two and a half to three years. According to them, the first increase came after four years and was very modest, a point the producers themselves accepted. The second came after six years. In between, their play had once been discontinued and then restarted afresh. It was followed by about four months of houseful shows, after which they proposed a pay rise. They put before the producers the figure that a basic increase over six years would amount to. They said they also have all the messages, and that the producers are wrong to say their demands were readily accepted.

Ketaki read out a line from a producer: 'As a producer, I am making this increase against my own wishes.' According to them, this means the producers did not make even that increase willingly. They were now due the third increase exactly one year later. Rohan and Ketaki said that in these seven years the producers never came on their own to say that the play was doing well, bookings were good and shows were houseful, so their pay would be raised. While getting the pay raised, they had also made clear that if bookings fell, they would again be ready to work for lower pay, because they wanted to do this play to the very end.

In the video the two also mentioned the Covid lockdown. At that time plays were limited to 50 per cent audience capacity, and the producers had asked them to accept 50 per cent of their pay. According to Rohan and Ketaki, they agreed to it right then.

They said that after working honestly as a team for seven years, they were replaced over a difference of Rs 1,500 in pay. Rohan, emotional, said this hurts him the most.

At the end of the video, Ketaki Palav also expressed her feelings. She voiced her pain at being pushed aside in a very bad manner by the very people with whom she had worked shoulder to shoulder and seen the play's good days.

The new video from Rohan Gujar and Ketaki Palav has revived discussion on social media. Both sides have put forward their versions, and reactions are coming in from artistes and audiences as well.