The whims of Bollywood stars blow up budgets

They live in luxurious caravans, taste the dishes of their own chefs and maintain extended entourages. The whims of Indian cinema stars are driving up blockbuster bills to the point of putting the entire sector’s economy in difficulty. Box office results have always been difficult to predict in Bollywood, but some producers no longer hesitate to assert that the setbacks suffered by certain films have less to do with their artistic quality than with their price.

“We’re not talking about production costs, but the stars’ fees,” immediately clarifies Ramesh Taurani, producer of the hypervitaminized Race franchise. More and more actors, he argues with others, are now arriving on sets with their makeup artists, hairdressers, stylists, sports coaches and other assistants of all kinds, whose services are obviously billed to the production.

“These ever-increasing teams, their first-class travel and their luxurious accommodation are inflating budgets without bringing any real creative added value,” denounces distributor Mukesh Bhatt. “These types of demands from stars are simply abhorrent.” “A single actor no longer travels without an escort of 10 to 15 people,” adds distributor Raj Bansal. “Before, several actors agreed to squeeze into a single caravan. Then we moved to one caravan per actor. And today, it’s one of escalation…”

A single one of these luxury trailers can cost production up to $18,000 for the duration of a shoot, industry insiders point out. The level of extravagance offered to actors, however, is starting to raise eyebrows among financiers. As elsewhere, the Bollywood economic model has been revolutionized by distribution platforms with enormous budgets, whose prices are difficult to compete with for cinema distributors.

The emergence of Apple TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video has also diverted some viewers from “made in India” works alone. “Audience behavior has matured, these platforms have opened new horizons and forced local cinema to raise its creative level,” notes producer Mukesh Bhatt.

“But ever-rising production costs – particularly those linked to talent – ​​have created new financial pressure. It is not the films that are fragile, but their financial balance,” he explains. Actor and director, Aamir Khan did not hesitate in September to accuse his peers of these excesses. “You earn tens of millions of rupees. Have you lost all self-esteem?” he told them on YouTube.

To stop the spiral of whims and costs, producer Mukesh Bhatt suggests a new sharing of profits and financial risks. “One solution could consist of reallocating our resources to what constitutes the essence of cinema, that is to say its narrative power,” he suggests. “When a film does well, everyone who contributes to it should benefit,” explains the producer. “But when it’s struggling to find an audience, the burden shouldn’t fall entirely on the producer.”

The latest example, the release in 2024 of the science fiction feature film “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan” (Big Monsieur, Little Monsieur), which cost $42 million. Its failure in theaters forced its producers to mortgage their properties to absorb the losses… Producer Bhatt’s idea began to take hold.

In 2023, actor Kartik Aaryan agreed to lower his fee for the comedy “Shehzada”, a film which collapsed at the box office. “If the value of your image and that of the entire project benefits the entire team, everything is fine,” he believes. “Otherwise, we must agree to take our share of responsibility.”

Rather than redefining the sector’s economic model, others prefer a more radical solution. “If the cost of the star and his entourage weighs on your budget, then don’t take any more stars,” says actor-writer-director Viveck Vaswani.

“I made 40 films with 40 novices and I succeeded. I hired Shah Rukh Khan (SRK, a big star) when no one wanted him anymore, and Raveena Tandon (another) when no one knew her yet,” he adds. “It is wrong to think that your lead actor is stronger than your script,” concludes Mr. Vaswani.