| They call the shots |
| Kaveree Bamzai |
| April 4, 2008 |
Warner Bros who are distributing Chandni Chowk to China in India wanted to check if the film could be pitched as a Diwali blockbuster. All that was needed to convince them was one minute of the film with Deepika Padukone in full-on action queen avatar—the movie has her in a Seeta and Geeta double role—falling off a skyscraper with Akshay Kumar, hanging on to an umbrella.
In Bollywood, a new star is yearned for, but rarely born, every minute.
And if it's not, then the old ones will do and be paid their due too. Take a minor actor like Zayed Khan. Cast as a second thought in Mission Istanbul, when Bobby Deol dropped out, he is getting Rs 1.25 crore for the film.
Or Riteish Deshmukh, who has only ever had ensemble hits, who gets up to Rs 2 crore a film, with a 50 per cent discount for friends. They are not alone.
Salaries have gone up down the line, from directors to cinematographers to production designers. Even writers. Five years ago, Javed Akhtar used to charge Rs 20,000 per song. Now he charges Rs 2 lakh. Production designer Nitin Desai makes Rs 50 lakh on every film while an ace cinematographer like Ravi K. Chandran can charge up to Rs 1 crore.
He works with only those whose vision he trusts implicitly, choosing to make his money from endorsements, television shows and personal appearances. If successful, the film will only enhance his market value.
As Eros's, Kishore Lulla says, "You can't tie stars down only with money." Boney Kapoor, who is working with his friend Salman Khan on a remake of the Tamil film, Pokhiri, echoes it: "You need to inspire the stars, and that can only be if you have a one-onone relationship with them. They need to be kicked about the film."
Most actors choose not to step out of this self-imposed comfort zone. Take Hrithik Roshan, who demands and usually gets script changes before he signs on the dotted line, on the rare occasions he works outside his father's banner, FilmKraft. In such an industry, actors like Akshay and Saif Ali Khan who work on films back to back and deliver four films a year are a rarity, which explains their phenomenal rise.
This has its flipside. "Corporates are asking the same questions that exhibitors from Bihar and UP did. Who's the star, not what's the story?" says an agitated Mukesh Bhatt, who has seen several of his proteges, from Anurag Basu to Mallika Sherawat walk right out the door.
"People are being paid five times what they're worth." Even actors created by independent movies, such as Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey, are now getting upwards of Rs 50 lakh. "How can the Rs 4-crore movie that created them be viable," asks Sudhir Mishra. And then answers it himself: "People are waiting to be discovered. We'll just have to do it."
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