Bollywood actor Harshvardhan Rane has pledged to cover the expenses of his entourage himself, ensuring that the costs do not fall on film producers. This has come after superstar Aamir Khan's latest interview in which he opened up about actors' sky-high fees and extravagant demands during shoots.
For those unversed, Aamir, during a podcast with Komal Nahta, said that producers should pay for only what directly serves the film and not for the actors' cooks and drivers who travel with them.
Agreeing with Aamir, Harshvardhan wrote on Instagram, "Khuddari hai sir, I hereby pledge to not let my producer pay for my entourage…inspired by stalwarts of Hindi and South industry who have been pointing out at high entourage costs. I will stand for fair producers."
Aamir said during the conversation, "The dominance of stars is good to a certain extent, and it should be so. Even people love to watch stars. But I hear that stars of today also don’t care to pay their drivers. They ask their producers to pay them. Not just that, but the producer is also paying for the actor’s spot boy. They don’t stop here. They make the producer pay for their trainers, cooks. I have heard that now they keep live-kitchen on set and expect the producer to pay for it. They even demand multiple vanity vans for kitchens and gyms."
"I believe producers should only spend on what is genuinely required for the film. This includes makeup, hair, costume. But paying for my personal driver or help, how are they contributing to the film? They are working for me. It is my responsibility to pay them, especially when I am earning well," the Sitaare Zameen Par actor added.
Aamir said that he finds producers paying for the actors' entourage 'strange'.
"These stars are earning in crores and yet not capable of paying for their needs? Itni khuddari nahi hai? I find this extremely strange. It is very sad and harmful for the industry. I am saying it strongly that it’s a shame that even today there are actors who are being very unfair to their producers and their films," he concluded.
