Zoya Akhtar urges Karan Johar to not pay exorbitant fee to male actors; 'you have to just stop...'

The topic of male actors charging exorbitant fee for a movie has been doing the rounds since a couple of years, but thanks to their star power, makers also seem a little helpless, when it comes to these things, as it is invariably the male actor, who drives the audience to the theatres.

Recently, two filmmakers, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar, discussed the issue threadbare, with Karan accepting that it is a problem, and he is taking steps to tackle it.
In a directors roundtable conducted by The Hollywood Reporter India, Karan Johar said that male actors should definitely reasses their fee, to which Zoya said, “They are not going to know. But Karan, you have to just stop paying. You have to stop paying. That's it.”
To this, Karan gave a long explanation. He said, “What is your last couple of films? How much have you opened to? With what right are you asking me for this number? I made a small film called Kill. I put the money in it because it was a high-concept film with a rank newcomer as the face of it. Because I've started doing it. It was a high-concept action film. You could not make Kill in any other way. It had to be in that train. Every star asked me for the same money that the budget was for. I was like, ‘How can I pay you? When the budget is ₹40 crore, you’re asking for ₹40 crore? Are you guaranteeing the film will do ₹120 crore? There's no guarantee, right? So finally, I took a new boy, and he was an ‘outsider,’ I have to say it.”

Yesterday, Karan Johar shared an important note on his Instagram stories about the recent craze surrounding Coldplay tickets. The filmmaker said, “Dear privilege, I love that Coldplay and the mini Kelly always keep you grounded... you can't get everything you want, my darling … Lots of love… Frugal.”
Coldplay is scheduled to perform in India in 2025 as part of their Music Of The Spheres tour. The iconic band will take the stage at DY Patil Stadium on January 18, 19, and 21.
Meanwhile, Karan is gearing up for the release of 'Jigra', which he is co-producing with actress Alia Bhatt. The action thriller, directed by Vasan Bala, centers on the sibling bond between characters played by Alia and Vedang Raina. The teaser trailer has already been released, and 'Jigra' will arrive in theaters on October 11, 2024, in celebration of Dussehra.

In addition to this, there are rumours that the filmmaker is preparing to make his OTT debut with a big-budget web series for Netflix.
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