entertainment bollywood
in Profit Share
somebody losing money are also reduced. If everyone were to
take their entire fee upfront, the cost of the film would be so
high that in case it doesn’t do well, the losses would also be
equally high,” explains Shah.
To be sure, the profit-sharing arrangement remains the
monopoly of male stars. As far as the leading ladies are
concerned, the discussion remains limited to raising fees.
“The top female leads are all working with A-list actors and
you can only share profits with one actor in the film, you can’t
do it with all because then what will the producer be left with?
And obviously because our films are male-centric, it is the hero,”
Nahta explains. “Secondly, heroes get paid 5-10 times more
than the heroine, so it makes sense for them to take a share
in the profits.” For film-makers then, the big issue remains the
high upfront fee most of the top actors continue to insist on.
“It’s simple. The first-day box-office collection is a response
to what the fan following of the star is. So your flat fee should
be akin to what your opening- day collections are, not more
than that,” says Ajit Andhare, chief operating officer, Viacom18
Motion Pictures. “The problem is that at the current level,
the flat fee is far higher than the first-day collection and some
people demand almost twice their Day 1 earnings. So the
producer has to spend a lot of time in recovering the flat fee
itself.”
Insisting on a very strong fee, coupled with profit sharing,
ensures that talent benefits even if nobody else does, says
Andhare. “It’s a very adversarial situation that needs to move
to a more equilibrium level where talent realizes that producers
and investors are also in the business to make money and not
for the sheer joy of making cinema,” he adds.
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November 16-30, 2016 The Dayafter
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