When Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit reportedly locked herself in a van and refused to shoot Devdas because of non - payment issues, Shah Rukh Khan tried to intervene to free her

Devdas, which starred Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Madhuri Dixit, is one of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's most lavish and star-studded productions. While it wasn't an easy task for the producers to put together the period drama, Bharat Shah was allegedly accused of having ties to the underworld. During the filming of the SRK-Ash starrer, the producer frequently made visits to courts and hospitals.

Smita Jaykar, Kirron Kher, and Vijayendra Ghatge all appear in supporting roles in this romantic comedy from 2002. Devdas Mukherjee, a wealthy law graduate returning from London to marry his childhood friend Parvati "Paro," is the focus of this film, which is based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1917 novel of the same name Devdas. 

However, despite winning eleven Filmfare Awards and five National Film Awards for Devdas, the film was troubled by problems even before it started shooting. According to Masala, Sanjay Leela Bhansali once admitted that the team ran out of money because producer Bharat Shah, he was later admitted to hospital. 

An insider even revealed that while Madhuri Dixit refused to shoot because of unpaid bills, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai were ready to work on Devdas even though they weren't paid.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali told, “We literally didn’t have money for the next day’s shooting. I’d be at the hospital in the evenings waiting for Bharatbhai to sign vouchers, hoping the funds for the next day’s shoot would materialize anyhow.”

An eyewitness recounted why Madhuri Dixit refused to shoot for her Devdas sequences, saying, “She locked herself in her van and refused to come out until she was paid. It was horrific. Everyone, Shah Rukh Khan, Ash, Jackie Dada, supporting actors and technicians waited on the lavish set. Madame Dixit was nowhere to be seen. She sent a message saying she would shoot only when paid.”

Dixit did eventually show up on set after being paid, but he never revealed how he got the money. Sanjay Leela Bhansali never worked with Madhuri after the incident on the Devdas set.