Gandhari Producer Kanika Dhillon On Rising Entourage Costs: Overhead Expenses Should Be Shared – EXCL

Rising entourage costs have become a cause of concern for movie producers. Celebrities like Kartik Aaryan, Rajkummar Rao, director Anees Bazmee, Karan Johar, and others have weighed in on this topic. Now writer and producer Kanika Dhillon has joined this conversation. In an exclusive interview with Zoom, the Gandhari producer opined that it’s important for stars and producers to have a transparent conversation about it. It’s because the industry is going through a period of change, chaos and flux. Kanika said that fewer films are being told today because the ‘risk-taking has gone a lot more’.

Speaking exclusively to us,  said, “It is imperative for the producer to be able to afford to make a movie that most of the money that the producer spends can be seen on the screen instead of paying it out to say entourages and expenses that perhaps are not essential or required. And that can be better used in other departments.”

She added that it’s difficult job for a producer to put a film together. And that’s the reason it’s only fair that all stakeholders come together, have a frank and candid discussion about how best everyone can contribute to make a project viable.

“Having said that, usually all stories have an audience. But like I’ve always said, all big producers of their time also agree with this that stories don’t fail, it’s the budgets that fail. So, every story has a certain budget that it will require for it to be told. So, that budget should be primarily spent on the story,” added Kanika.

The Gandhari producer further stated that all stakeholders should come together and decide what percentage can be allotted to overheads and expenses. As per her, they should also consider how much percentage shoould go into the production of making a film. “The burden of overhead expenses should definitely be shared between actors and the producer and should not just be a producer’s burden alone because he already is taking a risk and the market is very tough to navigate at this time,” she shared.

Meanwhile,  marked Kanika’s reunion with Taapsee Pannu after Haseen Dillruba, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, Manmarziyaan, and more. Also starring Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam, Mita Vashisht, and Swastika Mukherjee, the movie premiered on Netflix on September 3. The film, directed by Devashish Makhija, is an action thriller.