Actors charge producers crores of rupees to be a part of their films but the personal staff that they bring on movie sets, like hair and makeup artistes, spotboys, drivers, personal trainers, are paid for everyday by the producer. Not anymore.
If a suggestion mooted by the Film and Television Producers Guild this month gets unanimous support from the industry, then all the stars will have to pay their own staff from the fee they take back home from a movie.
Members of a star's staff get a daily salary and this is usually to the tune of Rs 10-15k per day — a cost which is borne by the producer. Staff costs are to the tune of `50,000 per day, per actor. So for a movie shoot lasting 70-100 days, the producers often end up dishing out `1-2 crore at least.
Again, this is for one actor. The cost shoots exponentially if they are multiple stars in the film.
Producer Mukesh Bhatt, vice president of the guild, has met many Bollywood biggies, includingShah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor, in the past 10 days regarding this. And they have all agreed to the Guild's suggestion.
Bhatt elaborates, "We started approaching principal actors about 10 days ago, and they have all agreed to support our cause. But all this is not verbal. They have all signed in agreement. They all understand where we are coming from. I met all of them personally. We are just saying that the stars take a lump sum amount from the producer, and pay their staff directly from that."
Producer Vipul Shah, seconds the step taken by the Guild and says that sometimes under the name of a star, the staff asks for undue amounts, and even throws tantrums. "But if they have to take the money from their own star, we believe they will become more reasonable. Many a times, they charge such a ridiculous amount that they end up making more money than some of the film's technicians, which is very unfair," he adds.
Producer Ramesh Taurani says this new system, if it comes into effect, will have another advantage - it'll save the producer the hassle of additional paperwork and also negotiating with actors for expenses of their staff. Now that the major male actors have agreed, Bhatt says he will start meeting the heroines next. And once everyone is in agreement, they plan to implement the system within the next two weeks. "Once they all agree and sign, we will get this formulated at the Guild level. So far, we've got a heartening response and we're sure even the actresses will understand our concern. With the additional service tax the government has slapped on us, our financial woes never seem to end. But by streamlining money structures across various segments of the industry, we can make a difference."
An industry insider says, "This change won't happen easily. Once the stars have to pay their staff, they will decide on a fixed monthly income and people who are used to getting paid upto `10k a day will not appreciate this move. They are all part of unions and they will go not take this lightly. In the past too, such things have been proposed but they didn't come into effect. It's interesting that most top stars have signed this time. Lets see how it unfolds this time
If a suggestion mooted by the Film and Television Producers Guild this month gets unanimous support from the industry, then all the stars will have to pay their own staff from the fee they take back home from a movie.
Members of a star's staff get a daily salary and this is usually to the tune of Rs 10-15k per day — a cost which is borne by the producer. Staff costs are to the tune of `50,000 per day, per actor. So for a movie shoot lasting 70-100 days, the producers often end up dishing out `1-2 crore at least.
Again, this is for one actor. The cost shoots exponentially if they are multiple stars in the film.
Producer Mukesh Bhatt, vice president of the guild, has met many Bollywood biggies, includingShah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor, in the past 10 days regarding this. And they have all agreed to the Guild's suggestion.
Bhatt elaborates, "We started approaching principal actors about 10 days ago, and they have all agreed to support our cause. But all this is not verbal. They have all signed in agreement. They all understand where we are coming from. I met all of them personally. We are just saying that the stars take a lump sum amount from the producer, and pay their staff directly from that."
Producer Vipul Shah, seconds the step taken by the Guild and says that sometimes under the name of a star, the staff asks for undue amounts, and even throws tantrums. "But if they have to take the money from their own star, we believe they will become more reasonable. Many a times, they charge such a ridiculous amount that they end up making more money than some of the film's technicians, which is very unfair," he adds.
Producer Ramesh Taurani says this new system, if it comes into effect, will have another advantage - it'll save the producer the hassle of additional paperwork and also negotiating with actors for expenses of their staff. Now that the major male actors have agreed, Bhatt says he will start meeting the heroines next. And once everyone is in agreement, they plan to implement the system within the next two weeks. "Once they all agree and sign, we will get this formulated at the Guild level. So far, we've got a heartening response and we're sure even the actresses will understand our concern. With the additional service tax the government has slapped on us, our financial woes never seem to end. But by streamlining money structures across various segments of the industry, we can make a difference."
An industry insider says, "This change won't happen easily. Once the stars have to pay their staff, they will decide on a fixed monthly income and people who are used to getting paid upto `10k a day will not appreciate this move. They are all part of unions and they will go not take this lightly. In the past too, such things have been proposed but they didn't come into effect. It's interesting that most top stars have signed this time. Lets see how it unfolds this time
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