Actor questions production house over inflated star salaries
Two heavyweight names in Bollywood industry recently engaged in an intriguing debate about rising star salaries and their impact on box office performance. Veteran actor Rajeev Khandelwal, who was last seen in the popular Disney+ Hotstar series ‘Showtime’, has questioned the practice of offering exorbitant paychecks to celebrities without considering commercial viability.
In a recent interview, Khandelwal referred to remarks made by renowned producer Karan Johar on certain actors demanding astronomical fees of up to Rs. 35 crores despite often failing to deliver expected opening numbers. While not taking any names, Johar had expressed concern over unbalanced economics where costs are spiraling out of control.
Responding to the same, Khandelwal played the devil’s advocate and argued that production houses themselves are responsible for the creation of such expectations. “If actors are being offered Rs. 30 or Rs. 25 crores previously with success, how can the same people now criticize after business has changed?”, he questioned. Khandelwal further added that multi-project deals and profit projections from satellite-streaming rights justified these inflated payments in the past.
The actor made valid points about the box office mathematics often ignoring crucial variables like screen count. Even a small collection of Rs. 3-4 crores can be touted as success if the film releases on 3000 screens compared to 250 screens. Khandelwal believes real potential can only be judged with limited theatrical releases.
He concluded by expressing concerns over rampant malpractices like corporate bookings solely to pad box office figures. Such unreasonable practices as per Khandelwal will damage the industry’s long term prospects. While both sides raise fair perspectives, this debate surely questions the lack of rational thinking infecting Bollywood.
