Nadia Afgan voiced her grievances about delayed payments in the entertainment industry, a practice she said has been there since “forever”. In an appearance on Something Haute’s podcast, the Jafaa actress revealed that she hadn’t been paid for several dramas despite knowing the producers.

She added that she refused to work with them again and had a black book listing actors, directors and producers she would not work with in the future. “Yesterday, I said I have no people left [to work with], everyone is going in the black book,” she chuckled. Afgan shared that new actors in the industry weren’t paid on time and eventually got used to it, so they continued telling those who came after them that that’s just how the industry operated.

Afgan detailed the conditions that applied for an actor to be paid on time. “Either you’re very senior like Nauman Ijaz and no one dares to stop your payments for half a minute. I am where I am because of Samina Ahmed and Nauman Ijaz’s advice. They told me, ‘Raise your voice, don’t be afraid, God gives you rizq [sustenance], not these people’.”

The Radd actor said it wasn’t just young actors but also older actors and character actors who were mistreated and underpaid. “There’s a hierarchy and sometimes you feel that [this treatment] is not okay. There are good things also, but there are so many problems. It’s like a jungle out there, but I’m having fun because I have authority and I’ve set my boundaries.”