30/12/2025

LYFE TUESDAY | DEC 30, 2025

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Malaysian Paper

/thesundaily /

Bollywood prima donnas o India’s film industry counts costs as star fees, demands squeeze profits

QUEEN guitarist Brian May recently unveiled a previously unreleased song by the legendary rock band that “no one has ever heard”. The track – formally called Not for Sale (Polar Bear) – was originally recorded for Queen’s 1974 album Queen II but failed to make the final cut. Aired for the first time at the end of an hour-long Christmas radio special hosted by May, it features what sound like late frontman Freddie Mercury’s trademark vocals. “It’s a song that goes back a very long way F ROM fleets of private trailers to personal chefs and sprawling entourages, Bollywood stars’ “obnoxious” demands are driving up production costs and putting a strain on the Indian film industry’s finances, insiders said. Bollywood has long been unpredictable at the box office and the pandemic compounded problems, but producers argue that today’s losses stem less from creative failure and more from top artistes’ runaway expenses. “It is not so much about production cost – it is more about star fees,” said producer Ramesh Taurani, best known for the successful Race action franchise. Actors, filmmakers say, increasingly arrive on set with a dozen-strong entourage – including makeup artists, hairdressers, stylists, gym trainers and assistants – all billed to production. Stars are paid hefty fees of up to US$22.18 million (RM90 million) per film but additional requests for first-class travel, five-star hotels, multiple private trailers and work-shy hours have become routine. “Expansive support teams, premium travel and luxury accommodations often inflate budgets without proportionate creative impact. The kind of demands stars make is obnoxious,” said veteran producer Mukesh Bhatt. Distributor and trade analyst Raj Bansal added: “One actor usually comes with 10 to 15 staff members. “Earlier, actors wouldn’t mind sharing one vanity van. Then they decided to give one vanity van each to a big star – and demand went on increasing.” A single trailer hired for the duration of a film shoot can cost as much US$18,000. For some actors, insiders said, demanding more has become a status symbol. Self-respect Bollywood has always been considered high-risk, producing more flops than hits, but producers say the balance has tipped sharply as star-driven costs spiral beyond what box office returns can sustain. The fragile model was shaken after the pandemic, when streaming platforms bought films at inflated prices. When those deals dried up, producers faced a painful course correction as income plunged but actors’ demands stayed elevated. And that problem continues today. Competition has also intensified. “Audience behaviour has matured, streaming platforms have broadened horizons and regional cinema has elevated creative standards. “Yet, alongside this progress, rising production costs – particularly talent driven budgets – have introduced a significant strain. It is not the films that falter, but the economics that lose balance,” said Mukesh. Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan slammed stars for burdening producers with these costs. “You earn in crores (tens of millions of rupees). Where’s your self-respect?” Aamir said, in a September interview with the YouTube show Game Changers .

Power of storytelling Industry insiders say actors’ demands also have a cascading effect, as stars seek to exceed each other’s perks. “A measured approach will allow us to redirect resources toward what truly defines cinema – the power of storytelling,” said Mukesh. Producers have pushed for partnership-style compensation models. “When a film thrives, every contributor should benefit. When it struggles, the weight should not rest solely on the producer, who shoulders risk from the very beginning,” he said.

The 2024 science fiction action film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan ( Big Mister, Little Mister ), starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, reportedly cost about US$42 million. After poor ticket sales, producers were reported to have mortgaged property to cover debts. There have been exceptions. Actor Kartik Aaryan waived his fee for the 2023 action-comedy Shehzada , which tanked at the box office. “If your star value and the entire project’s value gives profit to the entire team, then the math adds up. If it doesn’t, then you should take a cut,” Kartik said. Some producers argued the industry must

confront its own excesses. “If the star fee and entourage is affecting your budget, then don’t take stars. I have made 40 films with 40 newcomers and have prospered. I took SRK (Shah Rukh Khan) when nobody wanted him. I cast Raveena Tandon when nobody knew her,” said actor-writer-producer Viveck Vaswani. Viveck, a longtime friend of SRK, noted that “SRK has no entourage cost, he pays his own”, as does Akshay. “Lots of them do that, they don’t burden the producers. If you think your star is stronger than your script, you are wrong,” he said. – AFP

People walk past a wall mural with images of Bollywood actors, under a road bridge in Mumbai. – AFPPIC

Brian May unveils never-heard Queen song cut from 1974 album

references to it on Queen fan websites and elsewhere. As May noted, a remastered version is set to feature on an upcoming 2026 re-release of the Queen II album. A bootleg version of the song may already have circulated by May’s pre-Queen band Smile, but that differs from the newly-aired track. May and drummer and backing vocalist Roger Taylor still perform as Queen with singer Adam Lambert as lead vocalist. – AFP

Fronted by the flamboyant Mercury, who died of Aids-related pneumonia in 1991, it is remembered for huge hits including We Are The Champions (1977), Crazy Little Thing Called Love (1979) and Another One Bites the Dust (1980), as well as stage performances such as the 1985 Live Aid concert. Their smash hit single Bohemian Rhapsody spent nine weeks at the top of the UK music charts in 1975. Not for Sale (Polar Bear) had languished in the Queen archives for decades, with

but to my knowledge, no one has ever heard this version,” May, 78, said when he played the track on Planet Rock radio. He said it was a “work in progress” when it was first recorded in the early 1970s. “It will appear on the forthcoming rebuild of the Queen II album next year. But I’m sneaking this in because I’m just fascinated to know what people think about it,” he told listeners. Formed in 1970, Queen is one of the best-selling groups in pop history, shifting a reported 300 million records worldwide.