It is not an unaccustomed thing to hear about the delay of payments in show business, breach of contract, and frequent ghosting of artists when it comes to fulfilling commitments. A similar incident came to light when Hina Khawaja Bayat, a respected senior actress of our industry, who has gracefully won her audience’s heart through her performances, recently revealed in Nida Yasir’s morning show about how a big channel ghosted her after making her do an entire Ramadan transmission, making her wait for an entire 2.5 years before she could secure the payment through a legal procedure.
Hina Bayat narrated the entire incident. She admitted her mistake of doing a Ramazan transmission without signing a contract. She revealed she usually works with one channel where she is comfortable working but for a change, she decided to do one month’s work for another renowned channel.
“I also made a mistake once. I am human so I also make mistakes. Once I signed up for a Ramzan transmission with a channel….I am one of those people who will work consistently at the same place. For instance, if you have a helper in your house who has worked with you for 30 years, they will have a different position in the house. So, I am happy if I am working at the same place for 10-12 years.
She continued:
“However, it happened once that I decided to do a test run and work with another channel for a month. Since I knew some people there, as I had worked with them at one point in my career, there was also this trust factor. What happened was that I went for a transmission show and the host wasn’t able to deliver aptly and I eventually took over somehow in order to manage the situation, since the show was live. When I was about to leave, they called me to their office after the show ended and offered me the transmission. Even the host wanted me to take her place since she wasn’t able to cope with the pressure. Eventually, somehow, I agreed to do the show without the contract.”
The actress further added that the channel did not give her the contract and kept on delaying it. As she was already doing the transmission, she asked the channel to give her payment on the 27th Ramazan. They initially agreed but did not pay her and asked her to wait for a couple of days. After pestering them and refusing to do the show on the last day, the channel finally gave her the contract, but it only had her signature.
Hina Bayat further revealed that she took her husband’s help to get her payment after going through a legal procedure.
“My husband advised me to follow up and have a written conversation with them rather than discussing the problem over the phone. They never agreed to give me the payment until my husband involved a lawyer and I started receiving my payments in instalments. There were still some delays, but I finally received my total payment after 2 to 2 and a half years.”
Unfortunately, such incidents are a common occurrence in our entertainment industry. It is essential that the relevant organizations ensure that contracts are in place before the work begins and are fulfilled in order to avoid scam and fraud.
