The rising cost of movies is currently the hot topic of discussion among the producers and moviemakers and the majority feels that the high fees of actors and the high cost of their entourage is increasing the movie budget to such an extent that it is becoming difficult to recover the investment in the project.
Some time back, Anurag Kashyap revealed that a star’s personal chef was getting paid Rs. 2 lakh daily for preparing healthy meals for the actor and this didn’t go well with many.
Now actor Gulshan Devaiah has shed his opinion on this matter and he is supporting his Bad Cop co-star Anurag Kashyap as he said in an interview, “Maybe Anurag in his experience has seen some actors like that. I was there when he said that, so I can say that he added that there are producers who were willing to pay that money. Suddenly, why are they complaining? Pichle paanch filmon mein toh tumne diya tha utna paisa. Now that they don’t want to shell that much amount, they’re complaining.”
He further adds, “One has to understand why such a thing is prevalent. It’s like asking, why is a government official taking bribes? That’s because someone is also willing to give it. Yes, it’s true that not all actors quote a high price. There are only a select few. But they should also become a bit reasonable.”
Gulshan Devaiah says that things are getting messy because actors are copying other actors. In his words, “Sometimes it’s a trickle-down thing. They see other actors walking with five bodyguards and then they want six for themselves. Yes, we aren’t offered residual income or backend deals. I don’t know why everyone shies away from talking about it. Maybe because they’ve to open their books and show transparency in their accounts. But there are other ways to make money too.”
Devaiah concludes with, “A few years back, producers must have thought that paying that money will be worth it. Maybe it’s not worth it anymore. Maybe they don’t have that spare Rs 2 lakh to splurge on a chef. Things are changing. So, it’s everybody’s responsibility to make sure that every story is made with the right budget. At some point, nobody cared about it because they knew how to make money. But life has thrown challenges now and the situation isn’t easy anymore. There are other avenues through which producers could make money. Now, the burden of recovering the cost is on them. It’s a cut-throat business. It has always been difficult to release films in theatres but now more than ever, producers are faced with the challenge of creating that budget.”
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