Stars may no longer demand fees they are unable to justify. Stars no longer deserve it, and producers can no longer afford it.
The costs that they seek are not only unreasonable but absurd if we consider the opening of previous year’s movies featuring A-listers Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Varun Dhawan, and Ranveer Singh. What causes producers to be so reliant on stars that they pay them the amount they request without first confirming their influence at the box office?
The Hollywood Moghul of Bollywood, Karan Johar, the maverick among them, dispels the misconception that his stars give him a discount out of goodwill. They bill him the whole amount. Jugjugg Jeeyo, a semi-hit movie from Karan’s Dharma Productions last year, spent more than half of its budget on celebrity salaries.
As these producers cannot afford to pay the actors what they desire, Karan Johar and many other prominent producers, including Sajid Nadiadwala, Ritesh Sidhwani, and Aditya Chopra, have “asked” that their performers take a voluntary salary reduction.
In a film, you must pay Anil Kapoor the same as Varan Dhawan because else he would feel offended. This is the domino effect. In actuality, only Kartik Aaryan produced a hit last year; Ajay Devgn did not. Trade insiders claim that only Kartik Aaryan has received a wage raise offer. Karti Aaryan has accepted a sizable pay increase from his producers Bhushan Kumar and Murad Khetani for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.
When he refused the offer, stating that the recession requires him to downplay his improving financial situation, Kumar gave him an expensive automobile as a thank-you gift. Only Kartik from the A-list has produced a quality hit. It’s time for the other so-called A-list celebrities to get off their high horses and take a few zeroes out of their wages since they are all travelling in the same leaky boat.
Following the catastrophic failure of Heropanti 2, both director Ahmed Khan and Tiger Shroff, who plays the lead role, have taken wage cuts for their upcoming project, a light musical comedy for producer Sajid Nadiadwala. In addition, Nadiadwala is getting set to introduce his own son.
Regarding the others, Ayushmann Khurrana should be paying the producers to sign him or her after Anek, Doctor G, and An Action Hero; Aditya Roy Kapur after Rashtra Kavach Om; Akshay Kumar after Bachchhan Paandey; Samrat Prithviraj, Cuttputli, Ram Setu, and Raksha Bandhan; Ranveer Singh after Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Cirkus; and
Journalist Subhash K. Jha is headquartered in Patna. He has written about Bollywood for long enough to be familiar with it inside and out.
