Bharti Singh, Haarsh reveal ‘surviving on loans', Reem Shaikh says TV actors are now getting hired for ₹ 50,000

Hindustan Times

30-05-2025

The television industry appears to be facing a crisis, with many shows going off air just months after their release. In their podcast, Haarsh Limbachiyaa and Bharti Singh spoke about surviving on loans and discussed the television industry's struggles with Reem Shaikh. (Also Read: Bharti Singh battles fever, weakness after coming back from Thailand: 'Have been crying since morning')
Haarsh feels the "television industry is struggling" as budgets have been reduced and very few big shows like Laughter Chef are being made today that are able to sustain. Reem talked about her struggles and revealed that she thought, after doing Raabta and two more popular shows back to back, she would get paid ₹1.5–2 lakhs. However, due to the budgets being reduced, she hasn't been earning equal to what she has been delivering over the years.
Haarsh added, 'We face a similar problem. People see me host a show on one channel and Bharti hosting a show on another channel, people think I would be charging ₹20 lakhs per day, Bharti would be getting ₹50 lakhs per day. That's not true. We are surviving on loans, and if we don't take the work that comes to us, somebody else will.' Bharti quipped, 'We are so much on loans that even when the milkman comes, we think an agent has come to take the loan back."
They further talked about how he once saw a report claiming that Krushna Abhishek is earning ₹35 lakh for Laughter Chef and he called him to ask for some money. Reem further talked about how not only have industry budgets been reduced, but all other expenses remain high. Haarsh revealed that many technicians and directors have called him to say there is no budget in the industry, which is why they have shifted to YouTube — they didn't want to rely on the industry for income.
Reem revealed that a new trend has begun on TV where, instead of being paid per day, actors are paid monthly. She said, 'Actors are hired for ₹50,000 monthly. Then they can make you work for 22 days or 30 days, and you are paid monthly. Actors who don't have a side income through social media do suffer then.'
Bharti and Reem are currently part of Laughter Chef Season 2. While Bharti hosts the show alongside Chef Harpal Singh, the show also features Krushna Abhishek, Kashmera Shah, Rubina Dilaik, Rahul Vaidya, Aly Goni, Karan Kundrra, Elvish Yadav, Abhishek Kumar and others, who cook different dishes while entertaining the audience at the same time.