Karan Johar said that he has stopped paying hefty fees to stars because they can no longer guarantee hits. He also talked about how they demanded a remuneration of Rs 40 Crore when he approached them for Kill.
Wondering why Karan Johar chose a new face (Lakshya) instead of going for established stars for his last co-production, Kill? Well, the filmmaker explained it all when he recently made an appearance at a roundtable hosted by a news portal.
While reflecting on how big stars like Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn have only managed to bring in an opening of Rs 2-3 Crore at the box office in recent times, Karan emphasized on how the actors need to look into their remuneration. Hearing this, Zoya Akhtar who was also a part of the same conversation, rebuked him for giving into hefty fee demands in the past.
In response, Karan revealed that he doesn’t pay hefty remuneration to stars anymore since they can’t guarantee hits anymore.
The filmmaker said, “I don’t pay any more. I’ve said, ‘Thank you very much, I can’t pay you.’ I am not paying anyone. What were your last couple of films? How much have you opened to? What right do you have to ask me for this number?”
Recalling his experience on his last film, Kill, KJo said, “I produced a small film called Kill. I spent money on it because it was a high-concept film with a rank newcomer. Every star that we went to asked me for the same money as the budget. When the budget is Rs 40 crore, how can you ask for Rs 40 crore? Are you guaranteeing me that the film will do Rs 120 crore? There’s no guarantee.”
Further, Karan said that he was proud to introduce an outsider like Lakshya, but also added that no one praised him for not casting an insider.
Citing example of Hollywood, he went on to point out how since a decade, the studios there have started the trend of giving new stars all the tentpole franchise films.
“They (young actors) were empowered by the studios. That’s what needs to start happening here. You can take younger actors, and you can tie them in contractually and not let them do a similar franchise for another studio,” he said.
Kill starred Lakshya, Raghav Juyal and Tanya Maniktala in pivotal roles. The film opened to rave reviews, and was a box office success.
