Nora Fatehi turned down the offer to wear 'tiny' blouse provided for the Dilbar shoot

Before achieving fame, Nora Fatehi seized a crucial opportunity by starring in the "Dilbar" song for Satyameva Jayate in 2018, despite not receiving payment. The song soared in popularity, amassing over a billion views on YouTube. At that time, Nora prioritized proving her talent over financial gain. In a recent interview with Rajeev Masand at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, she shared that she was close to leaving India when offered "Dilbar" and "Kamariya" from Stree. Despite facing financial struggles with empty accounts for rent and meals, Nora embraced these opportunities to establish herself in the industry.

She said, “When I met the creators of these two songs… which I never got paid for, by the way, I did them for free. And I did them for free because I said that it’s not the time for me to make money, right now is the time for me to prove myself and to make a name, and to work with credible people," she said.

Nora Fatehi pointed out that the blouse she received for Dilbar was too small, leading her to firmly ask for a replacement. She said, “When they brought me the blouse, it was too tiny and I had to put my foot down. I said, ‘Guys, I cannot wear this. Don’t oversexualise me. I get it, it’s a sexy song, we are all inherently sexy, but we don’t have to be vulgar about it’. In the morning, when we were about to shoot the song they had to make a new blouse."

“They had to reconstruct the new blouse that made me comfortable. To some people, it still looks over sexy maybe, but for me, it was whatever I was comfortable with compared to what they were going to give me," Nora added.

Nora shared that she was broke and couldn't even afford food, leading to a significant weight loss.“I went through a phase where I was so skinny and borderline anorexic because I didn’t have money to eat much," she said, and shared that she was with a modelling agency who “exploited" her and did not pay her dues. “We were really exploited as foreign models, and I didn’t have money to pay rent, to be honest," she said.