India, July 7 -- During the 1970s and early 1980s, Hema Malini was among Bollywood's biggest stars and was often regarded as one of the industry's highest-paid actresses. However, in a recent podcast with Hindi Rush, the veteran actor and politician dismissed the claim, saying she never earned the kind of fees today's stars command and was never driven by money.

Hema Malini denied being the highest-paid female actor in Bollywood and said, "No, not at all. Kisne bola yeh? (Who said that?) We used to get a very small amount. Itna kuch nahi dete the (They didn't pay us much). Directors and producers liked me a lot, but I never worked for money. Jaise jaise naam hota hai (As your popularity grew), they would increase the payment a little. Th...