Upala KBR (DNA; October 7, 2015)


Branded with money
Says a source, “Sangeeta wanted to get a top director for her production house and that doesn’t come cheap. Rohit Shetty is being wooed by the biggest studios. And this isn’t a new development. He was signed by UTV for a similar amount, three years ago. Rohit delivers hits and every actor in the country wants to work with him today, so whatever he charges is justified. Perhaps the only other director who get paid more than him is Rajkumar Hirani, but he isn’t available as he is tied to Vinod Chopra productions and takes a percentage of the profit, rather than charge a fee. This is also a model followed by Rohit but with Sangeeta, he chose to charge a director’s fee rather than come on board as a co-producer.”

Sangeeta says, “Yes, we have paid Rohit an exorbitant price. It’s the highest fee given to any director, but then it works as Rohit Shetty is a huge brand in himself. It’s a comedy film and his forte, so people want to see it. Right now, it is still in the scripting stage. We haven’t approached any actor as yet. I am waiting for Rohit to return from Hyderabad where he’s shooting for Dilwale and then we will finalise everything.” When quizzed about the Rs 25 crore fee, she simply says, “Yes.”

Trending trade
Taran Adarsh says, “Rohit is a brand today. Even the common man knows Rohit. While they go to see a film, and hear it’s directed by Rohit Shetty it makes it a bigger and better experience for them. If Rohit is asking for astronomical fee and getting it, why not? He has consistently given the maximum number of and many Rs 100-crore films. Today the economics of the box office has changed — from Rs 100 to Rs 200 cr now, box-office is hitting the Rs 300 crore mark so there’s an upward trend for directors too who become partners, stake holders or charge higher. That’s how Bollywood is functioning these days and every top director is upping his fee with every successful film. Rajkumar Hirani was a stake holder in PK. Overseas, too, is a huge market today. Not just India, PK has made 5 million HKD and Rs 100 crore in China which is unheard of! So if the film is making so much money, the director will definitely increase his price as the film is selling on his name. Why not take a substantial piece of the pie and become a partner in profits or hike fees?”

Lowering the risk
Amul Mohan adds, “The trend is not so much as hiking their fees as much as big directors turning profit-sharing producers, like Rajkumar did with PK and Rohit Shetty did with Chennai Express. Rather than taking a nominal fee, it makes sense for well-established, successful directors to get into it as profit-sharing partners. For a big director, once he reaches the Rs 10 crore fee, it stagnates because it doesn’t make sense for the producer to pay him more, hence the profit-sharing bit comes in. Or like Sangeeta Ahir’s film where he’s paid a humongous amount. A director would rather make big money in one film than sign two or three films for Rs 6-8 crore or a profit-sharing film which may flop where he doesn’t then recover anything. To cover up that risk he may sign one film for a huge amount. Or like directors Abbas-Mastan who turned producers with their latest hit Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon.”

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; September 23, 2015)

Earlier this year, Arjun Rampal had sparked a controversy by meeting dreaded gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli in a city hospital soon after signing Daddy, a biopic on the murder convict. While the project is scheduled to go on floors by October-end, a Marathi film loosely based on Gawli is set to release next week — thereby, threatening to steal Daddy’s thunder.

A source says, “Daagdi Chaawl has been inspired by the Byculla slum neighbourhood of Dagdi Chawl, known for gangster activities during ’80s and ’90s and also as Gawli’s official residence. Makarand Deshpande plays the pivotal role in the Marathi film. Daddy, on the other hand, is still in the scripting stage although the first look was released a few months ago.”

Daagdi Chaawl’s producer, Sangeeta Ahir, who is related to the gangster, claims that the film is not a biopic. “He (Gawli) is one of the characters, but the film is not based on his life. It is not about underworld, though we have tried to show how he is in real life. But I don’t think it will affect any other film, which is in process of making. Several movies have been made on the lives of gangsters in the past, but they did not affect each other. So our film will not affect their film (Daddy) and vice-versa,” she says.

Daddy’s director Ashim Ahluwalia did not respond to our text messages.

BOMBAY TIMES (September 21, 2015)

Seema Sinha (BOMBAY TIMES; June 15, 2015)

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 10, 2015)

On Thursday, the unit of Madhur Bhandarkar's Calendar Girls reached a mall in Bhandup to film a crucial scene. And they were shocked to find the costumes of the female leads, including over 20 pairs of bikinis and 80 shoes, among other accessories like bags and jewellery, missing.

"The cartons carrying them were empty," Rakesh Verma, one of the production managers of the film, told Mirror. "We aren't sure if they were stolen at the Andheri godown or in the mall."

He pegged the cost of the stolen items at around Rs 20-25 lakhs since they were branded and custom-made. "We won't be able to source duplicates. We will have to order them again which will take a lot of time" he sighed.

Producer Sangeeta Ahir suspects an inside job and has therefore not filed a police complaint yet. "We are shocked and plan to go to the cops soon but before that we hope that whoever took the items returns them quietly and anonymously. They can take them once we wrap up the film. Right now, it's creating a continuity issue. Where will we get another Gucci collector's edition bag?" she groused.

As a result of the theft, shooting has been delayed by a fortnight. "It is causing unnecessary stress, we are hoping we can recover the items soon," she added.

Eepsita Guha (BOMBAY TIMES; December 22, 2014)

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; August 25, 2014)