Filmmaker Karan Johar recently revealed that when he had decided to make his recent release, Kill, he had approached many "stars" for the film, but all of them demanded a fee that was same as the entire budget of the project. He also mentioned that Kill starred Lakshya Lalwani, who is an outsider, and yet no one praised him for casting the actor and not an insider.
KJo was a part of the The Hollywood Reporter India's filmmakers' roundtable, during which he stated that he has stopped paying hefty fees to his actors if they don't guarantee a good opening. "I don't pay more anymore. I have said thank you very much, I cannot pay you, bye bye. I am now asking them with what right are they demanding the fee from me?" he shared.
He went on to say, "Recently, I produced a small film called Kill. I spent the money on that film because it was a high concept film with a rank newcomer at the face of it. Earlier, every star we went to with that film asked for a fee that was the entire budget of the movie. How can I pay you Rs 40 crore when my whole budget for the film is Rs 40 crore?"
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"So, I finally took a new boy on board and I have to say this, he was an outsider. I have to call this out for myself because I've been paying the consequences for this all my life. And now, when I have cast an outsider and the film is good, nobody has praised me," he quipped.
KJo also stated that Hindi cinema is "craving" all kinds of stories, but when such films are made and they don't perform at the box office, it disables the others to make off-beat movies. " And superstars are no longer the reason for a film to open big," he added.
Kill, starring Lakshya, Raghav Juyal and Tanya Maniktala, raked in close to Rs 50 crore at the box office, and was lauded by the audience and critics alike. The film also won several awards and accolades at international film festivals across the globe.
