Mumbai: Actor Imran Khan, who made a comeback after 11 years with a cameo in Vir Das’ ‘Happy Patel: Khatarnaak Jasoos’, slammed Bollywood stars for charging huge fees and exploiting the system.
The actor also praised his uncle Aamir Khan for his ethical approach, whereby he does not take anything even close to his value upfront.
Referring to his previous interview, where he had mentioned that actors are often cast based on a film’s budget, Imran was asked if likes this system.
“There are two sides to this. On the one hand, I understand and it is absolutely valid that someone who has a bigger marquee value will bring more of a crowd bring more attention to a film than an actor who does not have that same draw. Certainly, that makes sense. You would put more money on this actor than on that actor. I can I’ll invest a bigger budget. I’m trying to make this large-scale action film needs a lot expense and so you need someone who can draw that. Absolutely that’s valid,” the actor said.
“If I have a sense that my film is going to cost ₹30 crore to make, that’s your cost of production. And I say I will charge ₹40 crore. So now your film costs ₹70 crore — ₹30 crore of which is the actual film and ₹40 crore is my personal salary. What is now our route to profitability? And do I care about that? I should care about it. It’s my film. I think if there is potential for the film to be decent, you should take less money upfront. Roll the dice. Take a gamble and bet that the film will do well. If anyone can afford to do that, it’s the star—especially if you’re commanding a salary of ₹40 crore,” Imran was quoted as saying by ETimes.
“I believe that increasingly we have reached a place where stars exploit the system. What I was taught by my uncle, by Aamir. And I have seen in the generation that preceded me, in fact the several generations that preceded me, is that they would themselves invest in the film. I don’t mean that they are opening their wallet and putting money into the film but there’s a sense of taking personal responsibility and ownership of the film.”
Lauding Aamir, Imran said, “Consistently, this has always been his approach. He has never taken anything close to his value upfront. He takes it on the back end. He will never say, ‘Give me ₹60 crore as a fee’ or ‘Give me ₹75 crore as a fee.’ That is foolishness. You are handicapping your own film. You are exploiting your film and enriching yourself personally at the cost of it. That’s what it is. Essentially, it means you don’t actually have faith or belief in the film.”
Criticising actors for prioritising their paycheck, without caring about the success of the film, Imran remarked: “It’s an attitude that I don’t care for. And I believe that anyone who is in a starring position, upon whose back a film is being funded and financed. If they are not in the position of enough financial security to gamble on the success and the quality of the film, then who else can gamble?”
On the work front, Imran will next be seen in the lead role opposite Bhumi Pednekar in a yet-untitled film, to be directed by Danish Aslam and co-produced by the actor himself.
