Advantage, big names

Unreasonable demands by successful young actors are often cited as reasons for film budgets going haywire.

February 01, 2016 04:58 pm | Updated February 02, 2016 12:14 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

(Clockwise) Rajesh Khanna, Salman Khan, Nagesh and Vanisri

(Clockwise) Rajesh Khanna, Salman Khan, Nagesh and Vanisri

A young hero doesn’t report to work when he is not in a good mood, as a result, a set worth Rs. 25 lakh had to be dismantled to make way for another company’s shoot the following day. The producer has to put up the set again and bear the losses.

Elsewhere during the story narration, a hero makes it clear to the director, that he should ‘drive’ the film and that Brahmanandam shouldn’t overtake him.

Another hero who has just given two hits refuses to hit a junior villain in an action scene; he wants to confront a big villain, wants more punch dialogues, close up shots etc.

A comedian tells the director he will be back in an hour but returns after three hours; he had attended the shoot of another film he had signed and didn’t want to miss out on the extra pay.

A director is flummoxed when the hero insists he wants to shop in USA for the costumes.

No, these aren’t the big stars of Telugu films, they are actually emerging artistes, crudely called ‘B and C grade actors’ in the industry.

While the phenomenon is common in all film industries, it is increasingly becoming a malaise in Telugu films.

A producer says, “Such behaviour doesn’t affect big production houses, they can cover it up in some manner. Small films come with a tight budget. If the market of a small hero is Rs. 2 crore, even a 50 lakh wastage escalates the cost. It all depends on the size of the film or how big the hero is. It doesn't matter if certain heroes who own their studios don't report for work on their own sets. Their nonsense is tolerated because of the market they command but all said and done, who sells the most matters.”

Producer Suresh Babu says signing stars with contracts that have ambiguous details or when terms are not ready is like digging your own grave. One has to budget according to the behaviour and working pattern of an artiste; more so in case of actors who are hired on a daily wage basis.

He adds, “For Prem Nagar , Rajesh Khanna would report late and we changed the shoot time accordingly. We tried the same with Vanisri for Bobbili Raja but she kept coming late. So we never gave her a film after, instead we took Sarada who was punctual, for all our films. Some artistes think they are doing producers a favour by giving dates.”

Speaking of solutions, he says, “We tried bringing in regulations at the Producers Council but the producers were not strong enough to rein them in. The industry puts a ban on an artiste, but two years later the same producer who complained wants to take that artiste in his film again. The top seven heroes think producers bring very little value.. maa peru cheppe kadha cinema ammukuntunnadu (he is selling the film on our name) is their feeling. Whoever is a bigger player sets his terms, so these small heroes wag their tails in front of small producers, not the bigger ones.”

Mohan Gandhi says the culture of resting or spending time in a caravan came in 2000, before that, all artistes would be waiting for their shots. The director was the dictator and if anyone would suggest a punch dialogue like the current day heroes demand, he would say, “ nuvvu teese cinema lo pettuko, maku akkarledu (have it in a film you make, we don’t need it ). Those days comedian Nagesh would do a number of films, he’d take permission for an hour; ‘cinema finishing lo undi’ he would say as explanation. Then he became too smart, he’d bribe the electrician, get the fuse removed and delay the shoot to get away elsewhere. Playing cards during gaps was also deemed unprofessional but would stop on being reprimanded.”

Elsewhere, in Karnataka, actor Darshan wore trousers worth Rs 40,000, a shirt worth Rs. 10,000 and asked for Prada glasses for song sequences, all for Telugu producer C. Kalyan’s Kannada film Virat . Tamil stars avoid promoting the Telugu dubbed versions, though they’d have been purchased for half a crore or a crore.

Suresh Babu avers that he has managed to contain cost by not roping in friends in his films. For instance, He doesn’t take Prakash Raj due to his unprofessional behaviour. Nor Salman Khan. “Salman said he is used to cancelling shoots and schedules and I won’t be able to handle it, let’s be friends. Ileana will not get any films here because of her tantrums. By being strict I lose out on opportunities, but it’s okay. Some people advise me, chusi chudanattu vadileyandi ( just turn a blind eye).”

Unprofessionalism is a problem in every field, whether to ignore or confront it is the producer’s prerogative, but unless there are strong rules in the film industry, artistes will continue to milch the producers.

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