Anurag Kashyap on Bollywood's Budget Bloat: Big Bucks Wasted on Starry Demands, Not Production

Anurag Kashyap shares his views on how starry demands and lavish entourages drain film budgets. The filmmaker opines that the modus operandi of streaming platforms have also added to the budget bloating.

Hyderabad:Recently, there's been a lot of talk about the hefty expenses of actors' entourages and their extravagant demands. These demands range from getting a burger delivered in the middle of nowhere to insisting on flying their entire family first class and housing them in luxurious villas. Choreographer-director Farah Khan previously spoke up about these starry requests and how they hike up production costs, and now filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has echoed her sentiments.

Kashyap discussed the shifts happening in the Hindi film industry, particularly due to the influence of streaming platforms in India. He highlighted how these platforms changed budgeting dynamics, leading certain stars to demand exorbitant fees. According to him, a significant chunk of a film's budget doesn't go into actual production but into fulfilling these star demands.

In an interview with a YouTube channel, Anurag mentioned the influx of vanity vans on sets, especially noticeable during the filming of Sacred Games. This trend, Kashyap opines, became hard to reverse once started.

"I had never seen so many vanity vans on my set like I saw on Sacred Games. That's how the culture got started. Then you can’t reverse that. Finally, those people started getting paid who were totally ignored, which is the technical crew… It’s fair, in a way. But a lot of extra things started coming in," said Kashyap.

When asked about the failure of many big-budget films, Anurag attributed it to overspending on non-essential items. He stressed that filmmaking is serious work and not a vacation.

"One thing people need to understand is that when we make a film, we’re working, we’re creating something. It’s not a holiday, it’s not a picnic. A lot of money that is spent doesn’t go into making the film. It goes into the paraphernalia, it goes into the entourage. You’re shooting in the middle of a jungle, but one car will be sent to the city three hours away specifically to get you that five-star burger you want," asserted the filmmaker.

While various industry figures have expressed concerns about these escalating costs, actors like Kriti Sanon and Janhvi Kapoor defended certain expenses.

Explaining that efforts like body transformations for roles are essential and rightfully covered by producers, Kriti in an interview underlined the importance of distinguishing between necessary and luxury expenses, with producers ultimately making the call.

Meanwhile, Janhvi said that as a producer's daughter she understands the budgetary pressures but also values her team's well-being. She sees everyone on set as an artist and feels responsible for protecting their rights and interests.

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