Actor-turned-producer Nikhil Dwivedi exclusively spoke to Bollywood Hungama about various aspects related to the industry. Another burning topic faced by the industry is the entourage cost and how it adds to the burden for the producer. Nikhil Dwivedi had a different point of view on this matter.
Nikhil Dwivedi began by saying, “Let’s say that there’s an X price of an actor and the entourage cost is Y. In my mind, I’ll think the actor’s price is X + Y. What’s important is, am I getting enough recovery from that X + Y cost? If an actor is giving you more recovery than what they are making you spend, you can offer them the moon. It does not matter. The problem arises when they refuse to understand the basic principles of business and arithmetic. You can’t be compelling the producer to spend more on you than what you are giving back to the producer. That’s the problem. Let’s not oversimplify by saying it’s an entourage cost.”
He further explained, “Let me give a rough example. Let's say Salman Khan’s fees are Rs. 100 crores. If his entourage cost is Rs. 20 crores, I won’t see it as a separate cost. If his price is Rs. 120 crores but his recovery is Rs. 250 crores, I am fine. Even if the entourage cost is increased further by Rs. 10 crores, I won’t flinch as I am still getting Rs. 120 crores of recovery. However, if an artist is charging Rs. 50 crores as his fees and Rs. 20 crores for his entourage, but his recovery is just Rs. 50 crores, that’s not feasible. In such a situation, one starts questioning the entourage cost and that is what’s happening.”
Nikhil Dwivedi continued, “What needs to be questioned is the overall price packaging. One can’t deliver a recovery of Rs. 70 crores and also charge the same amount. After all, there’s also going to be a filmmaking cost, distribution and release cost, advertising cost and cost that’ll be incurred while paying HODs and artists. Actors need to consider the whole package of the film that they are a part of. If the film costs Rs. 150 crores, is everybody collectively at least giving a recovery of 70-75% for the producer to take that 25-30% risk? If the answer is no, then everybody collectively needs to start bringing the price down. If they don’t, they need to realize that it’s not just the producer who’s going to make a loss. Your film is also going to be termed a flop. Why do you want a flop film in your filmography? A film is a hit only if it recovers money and makes a profit. I hope actors understand this aspect.”
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