Karan Johar on rising star fee: Every actor has to review, many not in touch with reality

MUMBAI: The remuneration of movie stars need to be looked at again and many of them are not in touch with reality, filmmaker Karan Johar said on Wednesday as he weighed in on the debate around the rising star fee in Bollywood.

The lacklustre performance of many big ticket Hindi movies in the recent months has led to a debate around the money charged by some of the big stars whose entourage also adds to the film budget.

At the trailer launch event of his upcoming production "Kill", Johar said actors need to introspect what they are charging for a movie.

"The main remuneration of the actors has to be looked at again. It's very critical for all the actors to understand exactly how the times are, how the climate of our movies are, and how difficult it is to maneuver through making a massive motion picture or a motion picture of any magnitude and size," the director-producer told reporters.

"Every single movie star has to review what they are asking for because many a times there will be certain producers that will pay that money because they want to make that film, but it will eventually cause a lot of damage to the entire system and the ecosystem," he added.

According to Johar, the entourage of actors are not a big issue, even though it does add to the overall cost of making a movie.

"The real issue is the cost. So they have to look at that and say that there can be back end deals or there can be percentages of profit... all that is possible. But every actor has to really look within, because a lot of them are not really in touch with reality," he added.

Recently, "Chandu Champion" actor Kartik Aaryan and director Kabir Khan shared their thoughts on the debate around star fee.

Aaryan, one of the top stars in the industry today, said a film's mathematics should add up at the end of the day.

"There are so many rights of a film when it releases. So you get an 'x' amount of money out of it. If your star value and the entire project's value gives profit to the entire team, I think then the math adds up. If it doesn't, then you have to, you should take a cut... It's a healthy discussion," Aaryan told PTI in an interview here.

Khan, known for directing big budget blockbusters such as "Ek Tha Tiger" and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", said the discussion around star fee has been prompted by the shift in industry dynamics after the pandemic.