Anurag Kashyap says Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan don't take fees: ‘Unki koi film costly nahi hoti’

Anurag Kashyap will next appear in the crime show Bad Cop. He recently discussed how star fees in Hindi films exceed production costs.

Anurag Kashyap has often raised the issue of actors charging high-fees in movies. The filmmaker in a recent interview lauded Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan for not charging fees for their films. Anurag, in an interview with Bollywood Bubble, revealed the reason behind Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir's movies not being costly. (Also read: Anurag Kashyap says Christopher Nolan's equipment was held by customs in India)

Anurag Kashyap said Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are cost-conscious.

Anurag Kashyap praises Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman

Anurag while reflecting on unnecessary demands of actors and 50-60 per cent of production cost as star fees, opined, “Jab aap film banate ho, toh film banane se jyada kharcha faltu cheezon mein jaata hai. Actors ki fees se dikkat nahi kyuki wo market dictate karti hai. Mai jaisi filmein banata hu mai limit mein rehta hu, kayi baar mai apni fees forfeit bhi kar deta hu. Maine life mein 60% se jyada filmon mein zero fees pe kaam kiya hai (When you make a film, more money is spent on useless things than on production. Actors do not care about their fees because the market dictates them. I have stayed within the limits of the kind of films I have made, and sometimes I have even forfeited my fees. More than 60 per cent of the films in my life, I have worked on zero fees).”

He further said, “Biggest example is Gangs of Wasseypur. My fees was zero because I didn’t want to replace actors with big stars. Mai bade actors ke saath kaam nahi karta, lekin sabse jyada cost conscious industry mein humare teen bade stars hai- Shah Rukh, Salman aur Aamir. Teeno fees nahi lete film mein. Wo har film backend lete hai. Unki koi film costly nahi hoti (I don’t work with big actors. But the most cost-conscious persons in our industry are the three big bad stars we have – Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir. They do not charge fees for their films. They take backend in their films. Hence, none of their films are costly).”

About Anurag Kashyap

Anurag started his career as a script writer in Ram Gopal Varma's Satya and Kaun. He is also credited as a dialogue writer in E Niwas's Manoj Bajpayee-Raveena Tandon starrer Shool. Anurag then made his directorial debut with Paanch which never got released. His second movie Black Friday (based on 1993 Mumbai blasts) took five years to release in theatres because of being politically controversial. The filmmaker later shot to fame with films like Dev D, Gulaal, Gangs of Wasseypur - 1 and 2, Mukkabaaz and Manmarziyaan. His web series - Sacred Games based on Vikram Chandra's novel of the same name also became widely popular. Anurag recently starred in Vijay Sethupathi's Tamil action-thriller Maharaja in a negative character.

Anurag Kashyap's upcoming projects

Anurag will be next seen as an antagonist in Gulshan Deviah starrer crime-thriller show - Bad Cop. His upcoming directorial Kennedy is noir action-thriller. The film starring Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone was screened at Cannes Film Festival 2023.