Earlier this month, it was said that one-third of the world economy will face a recession in 2023. The new Covid wave in China, and even the Russia-Ukraine war has affected the world economy, and it is said that people will bear its consequences in 2023. But as they say in the entertainment industry “the show must go on”, it is imperative that the industry continues to work through this phase too. Actor Nikhil Nanda has shared his opinion on this and feels that if the fees are fixed under certain criteria, then everyone in the industry will be able to make it through the recession.
Speaking of the same, he says, “Of late, as we have seen, the fee structure of stars has gone up tremendously and even the production costs have zoomed past exponentially. We need to rationalise that. We want the whole entertainment industry to survive, but a few stars are charging too high and strugglers are getting peanuts. I think there needs to be a rationalisation in terms of what's the uppermost fee target.”
He stresses that making the payments won’t really affect a big actor, but will definitely help someone who works on a daily basis or is new in the industry.
“Yes, some people say that I want fame so I need to charge according to my fame name and that's fine. No debates on that. That's the reason I am saying that we put good numbers as an upper cap so that the whole industry doesn't suffer. We need to see that once a film flops, there are many who are directly and indirectly involved with the project also suffer,” he says.
“The star also temporarily suffers but he is cushioned with the money he has earned over the years to reach the stage where he demands that kind of money. So, it doesn't really affect him in terms of money. Maybe it affects his psychology and in terms of fame. Their numbers could go down. But if we rationalise it initially, we will be able to handle situations where people are more concerned about where they are putting money and how they are spending it,” he adds.
Any suggestions to fight the recession? “My dad used to say ‘first earn, then save, and then spend’. That's the best way of fighting recession. That's the reason why India managed to survive the recession in 2008, unlike the world which went into a major recessionary trend during that time,” Nikhil concludes.
