Since the past few weeks, there has been an ongoing discussion in Bollywood about controlling a film's budget amid rising entourage costs. Now ‘Chandu Champion’ actor-director Kartik Aaryan and Kabir Khan, have shared their opinion on the debate about the rising star fee and overhead costs, which has been gaining momentum amid back-to-back poor performances of big movies.
Kartik mentioned how a film's mathematics should add up at the end of the day, and told news agency PTI, "There are so many rights of a film when it releases. So you get an 'x' amount of money out of it. If your star value and the entire project's value gives profit to the entire team, I think then the math adds up. If it doesn't, then you have to, you should take a cut... It's a healthy discussion.”
Kabir, who is known for directing big budget films such as ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, added how the discussion has led to a shift in industry dynamics after the pandemic. "It's a healthy debate and it's getting a positive response from actors, directors, and producers. (After COVID) The audiences, their viewing patterns changed, their habit of coming to theatres got diminished. So there was this whole debate about that if that's diminishing, what are the other avenues where we can earn money from?” he said.
The filmmaker further asserted how OTT is a large part of the revenue, and in every case, maybe the recovery is not happening the way it used to. Kabir, whose last film was 2021's multi-starrer sports drama ‘’83’, added that everyone in Bollywood needs to be on the same page to decide how costs can be controlled. "Nobody wants to cut down the money that's being spent on things you see on screen. So, the question comes about the money that comes through the staff fees, which, of course, is a large amount of the budget,” he said.
Coming to ‘Chandu Champion’, the film is based on India's first Paralympic gold medalist Murlikant Petkar. A Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment & Kabir Khan Films Production, the film will hit the screens on June 14.
