Anurag Kashyap discusses rising star fees, praises cost-consciousness of Bollywood’s Khans, and shares his own approach to managing production costs in a recent interview.
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Anurag Kashyap is popular for his unfiltered comments and outspoken nature. The filmmaker recently spoke at length about the rising fees of stars and their ever-escalating entourage costs. The ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ director has repeatedly criticized this practice, expressing concern over the mounting production costs for producers. In a recent talk with Bollywood Bubble, he lauded the three Khans of Bollywood—Shah Rukh, Aamir, and Salman—for being cost-conscious and urged other celebrities to emulate them.
In the candid interview, Kashyap clarified that he would not hesitate to drop any actor who makes unnecessary demands that drive up production costs. He asserted that he never considers an actor’s star power when making such decisions. The ‘Dev D’ director added, “That’s why I work with newcomers. I don’t care how big a star it is, I will drop them from the film. I will not allow it because it’s work.”
Expressing his frustration with the common practice of allocating 50-60% of the production budget for the cast, Kashyap criticized it, saying that more money is often spent on unnecessary things than on production. He noted that actors do not care about their fees because the market dictates them. He mentioned staying within budget limits for his films, sometimes even forfeiting his fees. “For more than 60% of the films in my life, I have worked on zero fees,” he revealed.
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Citing his blockbuster film ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ as an example, Kashyap said, “My fee was zero because I didn’t want to replace actors with big stars. I don’t work with big actors, but the most cost-conscious individuals in our industry are the three big stars—Shah Rukh, Salman, and Aamir. They do not charge fees for their films. They take backend profits, so their films are never costly.”
On the work front, Anurag Kashyap recently starred alongside Vijay Sethupathi in ‘Maharaja’ and is playing the antagonist in the upcoming series ‘Bad Cop.’ Additionally, his directorial project ‘Kennedy’ is ready to release soon.
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