Are today's stars too insecure to work together?

Earlier multi starrers with big stars were quite common even if stars were rivals or did not get along much with each other in real life.

Aamir and Saif worked in Parampara and DCH, SRK and Salman worked in Karan Arjun, Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, KKHH, SRK even made appearance in Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, Rani and Preity worked together in KANK, Har Dil jo pyar karega and Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. Raveena, Karishma, Salman, Aamir worked in AAA. Raveena and Karishma also worked in some other film with Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol despite their rivalry. Kajol, Kareena and Rani worked together in KKHH, K3G. Ajay and Aamir worked together in Ishq, Ajay and Salman worked together in HDDCS. Ajay and Akshay did Suhaag in 90s. Sunny, Akshaye Khanna, Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty were together in Border. Sunil and Akshay worked together in Mohra, Waqt Hamara Hai and Hera pheri all of which are successful or gained cult status later.

Hrithik worked with SRK and Amitabh in K3G. Saif worked with SRK in Kal Ho Na Ho, with Salman in HSSH. Govinda worked with Amitabh in Hum, Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan, with Sanjay Dutt in Haseena maan jayegi.

Stars of past worked in even more multi starrers despite their rivalry - for eg Amitabh, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Rishi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor and Dharmendra in films like Sholay, Anand, Namak Haraam, Kaala Patthar, Ram Balram, Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Hera Pheri, Naseeb, Parvarish, Deewaar, Trishul, Namak Halal, Kabhi Kabhi etc.

Amitabh also worked with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in Geraftaar, Andha Kanoon, Hum.

Hema, Rekha, Parveen, Zeenat, Reena Roy, Jaya were rivals but still worked together in many films like The Burning Train, Razia Sultan, Suhaag, Naseeb, Sholay, Alibaba aur 40 chor etc.

Smita and Shabana, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah were rivals but worked in many films together in 80s. Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt did many films together in 80s such as Yudh, Tridev, Ram Lakhan, Ram Avtaar, Yodha, Kshatriya etc.

Are today's stars insecure? Why are big stars or famous critically acclaimed actors not seen working together in films now?

Never seen Ranbir, Ranveer, Varun work together or Vidya, Konkona, Taapsee or Deepika, Alia in one film.

Is it filmmakers who cannot handle different stars together, or producers who do not want to pay top stars for same film or stars themselves who are insecure, fear being overshadowed or compared and are not keen to work together?

As a viewer I really liked watching multi starrers which have all top actors of that time in one film. Films like Naseeb or Tridev were a treat because they even had top villains of that time in same film - Amrish Puri, Raza Murad, Pran, Shakti Kapoor, Tej Sapru, Kader Khan all in one film along with top heroes, heroines and character actors as well. Films were complete package with top singers of those times also singing in same film.

Films like Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Andaz apna apna, DCH, KKHH, Hum Tumhare hain Sanam, Namak Haraam, Parvarish, Naseeb, Tridev seem impossible now with top stars in one film.

I hope Rohit shetty makes the sequel to Suryavanshi with Ranveer Sara Ajay Kareena and Akshay Katrina.

But yes a multi starrer has been is definetly missing for a while.

It will make the difference if all stars have presence throughout the entire film and not just brief guest appearance together that Ajay had in Simmba or Ajay and Ranveer probably had in Sooryavanshi (I am yet to watch the film).

I would love to watch a true blue multistarrer. I guess Kalank and Dilwale were attempted multi starrers but the former did not click.

Dilwale yes. 2 senior stars 2 upcoming stars plus boman irani and vinod khanna in a cameo.

Kalank was however not a multistarrer in any sense Only Varun and Alia were upcoming stars others were has beens and would never bes

It would not be a problem casting all three Ranveer Ajay and Akshay if Ranveer and actresses take their flat fee as usual and Akshay Ajay and Rohit work out their distribution rights and profit sharing if the movie is made and released post pandemic.

The budget should remain tight though within 100 crores

Every multistarrer cannot become a Bahubali. Let's see what happens to RRR

Imagine the budget with the staggering fees of these "stars"...

Eh... you enjoyed Hum Tumhare Hai Sanam?

Originally posted by: TheMinion

Eh... you enjoyed Hum Tumhare Hai Sanam?

No. That film is trash but watchable only because of its huge star cast with SRK, Salman, Madhuri and a brief role by Aishwarya Rai towards the end of the film. Had the film not had such big actors in it, it would not have succeeded nor got screened on TV again and again as it is now.

Is it only budget that is the constraint? How come earlier all top stars could work together but not now? How do you think Manmohan Desai managed budget in his mega multistarrers like Naseeb and Amar Akbar Anthony? Or K Jo managed budget with Salman and SRK, Kajol in same film or with Amitabh, SRK, Hrithik, Kareena, Kajol, Rani, Jaya in same film?

SRK,HR,DP Katrina in Dhoom 4

Originally posted by: atominis

No. That film is trash but watchable only because of its huge star cast with SRK, Salman, Madhuri and a brief role by Aishwarya Rai towards the end of the film. Had the film not had such big actors in it, it would not have succeeded nor got screened on TV again and again as it is now.

Is it only budget that is the constraint? How come earlier all top stars could work together but not now? How do you think Manmohan Desai managed budget in his mega multistarrers like Naseeb and Amar Akbar Anthony? Or K Jo managed budget with Salman and SRK, Kajol in same film or with Amitabh, SRK, Hrithik, Kareena, Kajol, Rani, Jaya in same film?

It's it's insecurity, it's finding the right script, finding the right director, it's scheduling but for current top stars the biggest obstacle may be budget. Now a top A list actor not only gets a large upfront salary but also a huge % on the back end.

It's not like the days of AAA where you could afford a trio of top actors. Even then there was ego. Vinod Khanna insisted on having a love interest because the other two had one even though it wasn't written in the script.

Dilip Kumar wouldn't co star in a film with Raj Kapoor unless RK agreed to not direct as well. He didn't trust Kapoor as a director to give him equal footing.

K3G. Karan knew all of the actors on a personal level and said he cast them all within a 24 hour period. (later he even got Rani) Financially only SRK was getting the big star salary. Next to him was Kajol. Hrithik and Kareena were beginners. HR was signed when KJO saw early rushes of KHNP which had not yet released. This was during ABs comeback period when he also needed films as well as money. AB even told him he'd do it for free though Karan refused and paid him. If Karan tried to get this cast together a few years later it probably wouldn't have happened.

In terms of current financing and putting together a potential multi starers there's the planned YRF spy series.

In War - Tiger got about 10-15cr to star while Hrithik got 45cr and 40% of the profits. Similarly in Pathan SRK gets a huge upfront salary and reportedly 45% of the profits, while Deepika and Abraham get significant fees upfront (his is a reported 20cr) and then Salman with a big fee for his cameo. It'll be the same with Salman in Tiger 3.

Now figure out how YRF can have HR, SRK and Salman as co-leads in their planned join up film(not just cameos) if they're all getting huge fees and 40-50% on the back end. Does not compute. The salary/profit structure for all three will have to change in order for it happen. On the plus side there's YRF/ Chopra who are powerful and they've all successfully worked with them so negotiations should go smoother than if it was another production company or producer.

In addition to that you're going to need a script that satisfies all three, a director they all agree on and a filming schedule that works for all three (especially if they're getting paid less than they would for a solo they could film instead). And none of this includes negotiating and paying the other starry cast (Deepika, Kat etc)

Originally posted by: atominis

No. That film is trash but watchable only because of its huge star cast with SRK, Salman, Madhuri and a brief role by Aishwarya Rai towards the end of the film. Had the film not had such big actors in it, it would not have succeeded nor got screened on TV again and again as it is now.

Is it only budget that is the constraint? How come earlier all top stars could work together but not now? How do you think Manmohan Desai managed budget in his mega multistarrers like Naseeb and Amar Akbar Anthony? Or K Jo managed budget with Salman and SRK, Kajol in same film or with Amitabh, SRK, Hrithik, Kareena, Kajol, Rani, Jaya in same film?

Talis saved my time and efforts... 😃