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With growing concerns around the ever-increasing entourage expenses of film stars, which often end up inflating film budgets significantly, veteran film producer Boney Kapoor has weighed in on the issue in a recent conversation. Drawing from personal experiences within his own family, Boney Kapoor spoke about how his daughter Janhvi Kapoor and brother Anil Kapoor personally bear certain expenses to keep production budgets in check.
Speaking about Janhvi’s commitment to minimising additional costs, Boney Kapoor shared with Game Changers’ YouTube channel that if Janhvi is shooting for a certain film, and has to travel to another city for another film’s shoot, she pays for her own ticket and does not burden her producer. “And say, if she is travelling her maid, as it was a day and night shoot, or travelling with any of her people, say, once her cousin was travelling with her, so I have paid for their tickets, for the rooms also. Or when I have gone to see them, I have brought my own tickets and stayed in a room on my expense,” he said.
Boney also recalled how Anil Kapoor used to manage his expenses during the earlier days of his career: “When Anil used to go on shoot in his early days, he didn’t used to give his clothes to the laundry because in five-star hotels laundry used to be very expensive. So my mother used to be angry at him that, ‘Anil, whenever you come from shooting you bring all dirty clothes.’ So he used to say ‘Mummy, what should I do, the laundry costs in the hotel is very exorbitant.’ But slowly, he changed too. Because when you see everybody doing it, then you are like, why don’t I also do the same?”
When asked why prominent producers like himself are not able to tackle the problem of growing entourage budgets, Boney explained the complexities of the current film production ecosystem. He shared that with every star, there is an additional cost of at least Rs 3-5 lakh per day, that is completely devoted to their team. “In today’s time, with every star, there is an extra expense of 5 lakhs per day, 3 lakhs per day — ranging from 1 lakh to 5 lakhs per day. Additionally, there are payments for their stylists also,” he said and added, “So all these things need to be checked and controlled. I can’t be judgmental about it because there are actors in my own home. We have tried from my end, and to some extent I have been able to control things.”
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He also highlighted the systemic nature of the issue. He said that unlike a few years ago, it is largely the corporate companies that are funding the films, so a producer is not spending his own money when he is making a film. “The entire system is at fault and it can’t be changed by one person,” he said and added, “There are less producers working right now, and all these producers are backed by studios. So it’s not the producer spending all this money, but studios. 90 percent of the films nowadays are being made on tables. If an actor isn’t available, they will go for another one and corporate is ready to spend all the money you need. That’s why our actors are comfortable.”
Last year, actor Anil Kapoor also voiced his concerns about the increasing costs associated with stars — including their fees and entourage expenses — and called for more realistic demands from talent in the industry. He told SCREEN, “This is a very important conversation,” Anil emphasised, adding, “All actors, actresses, and technicians, especially the stars need to be more realistic in charging their fees and demands so that filmmakers can make more films. My father, who was a producer, my family, and I have gone through tough times trying to make good films. We tried to put in our money, but the star fees and entourage costs were so high that it became almost impossible to fund the kind of quality films we wanted to make.”
