Amid rising discussion in the film industry about the exorbitant entourage costs of actors and outrageous demands by some stars, Kriti Sanon said that it’s important to understand what is necessary for a film and what is luxury, which will ultimately be a wasteful expense not contributing anything to a project.
With a lackluster first quarter for Bollywood, coupled with mega failures of Ajay Devgn’s ‘Maidaan’ and Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff fronted ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, the industry has been abuzz with a renewed spotlight on star fees and especially, the entourage cost of actors, which burden a production.
During an interview with ‘Film Companion’, journalist Anupama Chopra mentioned how she observed the end credits slate of a ‘big film’ of this year, headlined by a ‘massive male star’, where he had three people cooking for him - two cooks and one chef, cost of which, she said, was taken care by the producer.
When asked how the industry can intelligently deal with the issue of unnecessary expenses, especially now that Kriti Sanon is herself a producer, the actor said, “I don’t know which film you are talking about, but whichever it is, those are too many cooks, to begin with! But if you are in a film where you need to make a certain kind of body for that particular role, then obviously from the actor a lot of effort goes into achieving that. The expenses then, rightly so, the producer takes care of. So, you need to understand what is needed and what is luxury. The producers have to take a call.”
When asked if the entourage situation is out of control today, Kriti said that hair, makeup and costume are extremely important and sometimes even they end up having their assistants because of the kind of work that there is.
“Apart from that, I feel a trainer or a nutritionist, depending on the role. In my case, there have been many situations where my body is of no concern to the producer or the director, so if I am training and taking a trainer, I pay that cost. You have to balance what is needed for the film, with what is not. It can’t be an unnecessary expense,” she added.