Amitabh Bachchan: ‘Actors spend Rs 50-100 crore and then the cost of the team except Amitabh Bachchan who paid for his car, spotboy,’ recalls the producer: ‘You think we are stupid?’ | | Hindi Movie News

One often hears a discussion on the cost of directing big stars and how much it adds to the producer’s burden. In a recent interview, filmmaker KC Bokadia criticized actors who overcharge their film productions and their teams. He gave again Amitabh Bachchanhis role model and praised the actor for his performance. The late 1980s and early 1990s were a difficult phase in Amitabh Bachchan’s career. After leaving films to enter politics in the mid-1980s, the artist returned to cinema, but the great success he achieved in the 1970s did not follow immediately. It was during this time that producer KC Bokadia approached him for “Aaj Ka Arjun” (1990), the film that became Bokadia’s debut.Although Amitabh is no longer at the peak of his box office reign, Bokadia says he remains one of the most revered and respected actors he has ever worked with. The former producer recalled that Amitabh did not expect the producers to pay his employees. He also said that the star paid his son, the make-up artist, the driver and the vanity van, despite being the first actor to fine him Rs 1 crore.“Amitabh was the first person in the industry whose boy, beautician, driver… didn’t take money from them, even then. He brought his own car, his driver and I salute such people. Actors are paid millions of dollars but it doesn’t hurt the producer much but if you ask Rs 10,000 from an agent?” he said.Bokadia contrasted Bachchan’s approach with that of several contemporary actors, saying that most of them paid huge amounts of money while expecting producers to pay their fans’ money.“Nowadays, actors are paid Rs 50-100 crore… They should be a little generous. Even the producer should feel like he is working with someone who has a big heart and really deserves this much money,” he said and added, “If you burden the producer with unnecessary cost… You are asking them to pay for exercise in useless cars, and you think this is something to be proud of?”He also said that the high cost of these products has made it very difficult for independent producers to survive. According to him, some producers even buy tickets for their movies to increase box office collections, as strong numbers help them to do well on the platform.Reflecting on his first meeting with Amitabh, Bokadia revealed that he was told to wait outside the production room for hours. Instead, the meeting turned out to be a surprising surprise, with Bachchan agreeing to do the film immediately.“It was my first film as a director. He didn’t even listen to the story. I didn’t even have a story, and he said yes to ‘Aaj Ka Arjun’,” he said, adding, “Bachchan saab said, ‘This is the first time I’m doing a film where I don’t know the story or the director’. I told him, ‘What you can do on screen is what you can’t do with anyone else, I can’t do with anyone else. What story helps you?'”Following the success of ‘Aaj Ka Arjun’, the duo teamed up again for ‘Lal Baadshah’. Looking back on their collaboration, Bokadia described Amitabh as an actor whose presence on screen is more important than external beauty.“People complain a lot about certain things, like clothes, etc., but I feel what you do on screen, that’s where the actor shines,” he said, before adding that Bachchan “is a lion, and has been one.”Over the years, KC Bokadia has produced several popular films, including ‘Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam’, ‘Lal Baadshah’, ‘Aao Pyaar Karen’, ‘Phool Bane Angaarey’, ‘Naseeb Apna Apna’ and ‘Teri Meherbaniyan’.