Bollywood Actors, Actresses Like Salman, Sonam, Shah Rukh, Aamir, Should Cut Down Fees Post Lockdown Says Analyst

The entire world is suffering due to the pandemic coronavirus lockdown and this has affected the economy world over. It has also affected the film industry since the shootings have been put on hold, movies are not releasing, no promotions can be held. So just like the rest of the professions and fields, Bollywood too will have to do some adjustments. Starting with them cutting down on their fees.

Actors like Ranveer Singh and Varun Dhawan, who charge a huge amount which could be anywhere between Rs 20 to 35 crores with leading actresses like Alia Bhatta, Deepika Padukone charging between Rs 5 crore to 12 crores, dynamics will have to change a bit and they are expected to cut down on the amount as their fees makes a fare share of the film's budget. A leading media house spoke to senior trade experts Taran Adarsh, Komal Nahta, and leading film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, and here is what they said.

Senior trade analyst Taran Adarsh says it is inevitable. "They will have to take pay cuts because making a movie is a team effort. When you plan a project, you need to have the economics in place and now that the economics are going haywire, everyone will have to pitch it from the financer to the actors, to be able to make a film. Actors take a big chunk of revenue and I think they will need to pitch in. they will definitely need to pitch it."

Senior trade expert Komal Nahta added: "There is no alternative, there is no option. Films will not be able to release, the business has come down drastically. They will have to cut down on their fees."

Akshaye Rathi shared that if the actors want to "continue existing", they will have "'no choice but to do that".

"Not only has a lot of capital been sucked out of the entertainment industry, but a lot of capital in savings have also been sucked out of the pocket of the consumers and obviously the entire consumption cycle is going to change entirely and it's not going to come back to normal for at least a few years. So if they want films to be made, then the only choice they'll have is to, you know, cut down on what they take upfront and start equating their revenues to the profits that they content generates.

"So something like what Akshay Kumar or Shah Rukh Khan does, where rather than take a big fee, they take a share in the profits. So if the content performs, they earn well, if the content doesn't perform, they earn a little less," said Rathi.