'Popular actors will have to lower their fees or directors will stop approaching them,' says 'Piku' director Shoojit Sircar

Shoojit Sircar popular for making movies like 'Vicky Donor', 'Piku' and many more has recently opened up on some of the concerns within the industry. This comes at a time when the industry is not seeing many movies bringing in a lot of money at the box office and might really have to consider the exorbitant costs of film-making. Amidst the talk of rising entourage costs and actor fees, Sircar has now said that popular actors will have to reduce their fees in this scenario.
In an interview with ANI, Shoojit opined, "I won’t say much about people’s entourages or what they charge, but I am sure of one thing: popular actors will have to lower their fees. If they don’t, directors will stop approaching them. We have to make a film within cost now, if we want the audience to come and watch it. Go expensive wherever needed. If the director visualizes a shot a particular way, pay more for that. The director should not compromise on his vision to save money for the actor’s fees."
He also added how his production house with partner Ronnie Lahiri makes movies within a certain budget and hence, they are not worried even if they experiment and the film is niche in terms of box office revenue. Sircar's last film was 'I Want To Talk' with Abhishek Bachchan which got immense accolades from all over, but did not do well at the box office. The director added, "But that has not been the case with us. For all the films we’ve made, we’ve never let the cost go too high. That’s why we have fewer complaints. And we’ve worked with actors who understand that they’re working on a Rising Sun film with Shoojit Sircar, and that the cost will not be too high."
The director also believes that the creatives within the industry should take risks. “I would say that filmmakers and producers, as creative people, are not taking risks. When it comes to storytelling, you can’t just repeat old stories. You have to take some risks somewhere. You need to bring new, insightful subjects, no matter what the genre is,” said Shoojit.
Shoojit's film 'Piku' starring Amitabh Bachchan, the late Irrfan Khan, Deepika Padukone is set to re-release in cinema son May 9.