The discussion around the increasingly visible role of entourage costs in burdening film productions precipitated a meeting between four film bodies — including the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA), Producers Guild of India, Active Telugu Film Producers Guild and Tamil Film Active Producers Association — and five major talent agencies: Collective, Matrix, Exceed, YRF and DCA.

“They plan to regroup in another couple of weeks. In the interim, the agencies are expected to discuss the matter with their clients, says a source, adding, “In the meeting, all parties acknowledged the issue of the unpredictable costs associated with actors coming on-board projects.”

Could capping these costs help, or be proposed in the meeting? “Right now, all options are on the table. Just having a blanket cap would be difficult. The requirement of different scale of films is different,” says the source.

“Cutting these costs is the only way to go about it. In 2022, when we (Telugu film industry) went on strike, this was the reason. We demanded things like one pay cheque, and that staff payment be done by the artistes only,” says producer Abhishek Agarwal.

“Let’s not only blame the actors, but also star directors, star DOPs. You go on a set with everyone who is a big name and there will be just 30-40 people that are part of their entourage and they are not actually part of the filmmaking process. All costs that do not show up on screen do need to be brought in check,” says producer Kunal Kohli.