The cost of entourage of Bollywood stars is the talk of the town these days. Many in the industry complained that this increased the budget of the film and placed a burden on the producers. The controversy has further heated up when the producer of Chiranjeevi’s “Mana Shankara Varu” revealed that although the film’s budget was reported to be around Rs 200 crore, its actual production cost was only around Rs 25 crore. Reports also claimed that Chiranjeevi’s salary alone was more than 750 million rupees.Now, veteran actor Sudhir Pandey has also weighed in on the discussion, reflecting on the unequal treatment of lead actors and character actors on film sets. He even suggested that the money spent on bottled drinking water during filming would have financed a small-budget film.Pandey points out that dressing tables provided for supporting actors rarely rival those of top stars. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, he said, “Character actors like us rarely get a big vanity van. Usually, we get a small van. Stars arrive with a whole fleet of vehicles, looking fake and made-up. It feels like a waste of money. It’s different if they spend it out of their own pocket.” But if producers pay for it, it’s pure waste. There’s enough money wasted there that someone could make a low-budget movie. He further said: “You may not believe it, but the cost of Bisleri water alone is enough to make a small-budget movie.”When asked if he himself had a personal entourage, Pandey explained that he did not. “I didn’t have a team. One time, I wasn’t feeling well and had to eat and take my medicine on time, so I brought a boy to help. I paid for him myself. There were a few producers who did offer to cover the costs, but I always told them that if they couldn’t, I would pay. It was never a problem.”Talking about the gap between stars and supporting actors, Pandey admitted that he has accepted it as a norm in the industry. “There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s part of this culture of futility – and I use the word ‘futility’ deliberately. We claim to be democratic, but we’re far from democratic. Whoever gets power in any area starts giving orders and people just follow them. You can’t challenge them.”interestingly, Aamir Khan had earlier spoken out against a culture of producer-funded personal expenses and large entourages. Speaking on trade analyst Komal Nahta’s YouTube show Game Changers, Aamir said that while stars deserve respect, they should not abuse their position and put unnecessary financial burdens on producers.“Stars deserve respect, but not to the extent that it bothers producers,” Aamir said. The actor recalled the start of his career nearly 37 years ago and revealed he was reminded of this after discovering that producers often paid for stars’ personal staff.“There was a system where producers would pay stars to have drivers and assistants on set. I thought it was weird. I thought, ‘The drivers and assistants work for me, so why should the producers pay them?’ If the producer pays my personal crew, does that mean he should also pay for my children’s schooling? Where to stop?”Amir explains that he ended the practice for himself from the beginning.“I think producers should only spend money on things that are really needed for the movie – makeup, hair, costumes. But what does my personal driver or assistant contribute to the movie? They work for me, so it’s my responsibility to pay them, especially when I’m making a good income. I’ve made it clear from day one that my producer will not pay my driver or assistant. It’s been 37 years now.”He also expressed concern about what he believes has become a common trend among young actors in the industry.“I’ve heard that stars now don’t even pay for their own drivers and instead ask producers to foot the bill. It doesn’t end there. Producers also pay for their set boys, coaches and chefs. I’ve even heard that actors now have live kitchens on sets and want producers to foot the bill. They also need multiple vanity trucks – for kitchens, gyms and other purposes.”Questioning the rationale behind these demands, Aamir concluded, “Where do you spend the money you earn? These stars are making crores of rupees and still not being able to meet their needs? I find this very strange. It is very sad and harmful to the industry. I say very strongly that even today there are actors who are being unfair to their producers and their films and it is a shame. When you can afford a certain lifestyle, why should the producers pay for it?”
