At the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), filmmaker Abhishek Chaubey discussed how the actors in Ishqiya and Udta Punjab charged less than their market fees.
The award-winning director spoke during a session titled “Micro to Millions: Low Budget Films Becoming Blockbusters”. He also credited his assisting experience with Vishal Bhardwaj for helping him understand cost management in filmmaking.
Chaubey shared that he joined Bhardwaj in 2002, with his first project being Makdee, which was made on a modest budget of Rs 40 lakh. “What I did learn was that if you tighten your cost and work in a disciplined fashion, there is a way to do this,” he said. He added that working on larger films during his assisting years taught him the importance of cost discipline.
“While I was assisting, I also worked on big-budget Bollywood films, and I saw that there was a lot of wastageâsometimes on account of the directors or the stars. One thing that I learnt was how to stay disciplined, and that really helped,” the Sonchiriya director noted.
Talking about his actors’ willingness to charge less, Chaubey said, “When I directed films like Ishqiya and Udta Punjabârelatively not very small filmsâthe stars in them did not charge their market rates. They all worked for less money because I am working firmly in the alternate space within the mainstream. Actors understand this wouldn’t necessarily be a money-spinner, but it can do a lot of good for their reputation. It often helps them get meatier roles, so there are incentives for them.”
Chaubey also spoke about turning producer with his company MacGuffin Pictures. His goal was to create films he wanted to see. His first production, Konkona Sen Sharma’s A Death in the Gunj, was made on a small budget but managed to recover its costs thanks to government rebates and a deal with Amazon.
“We made the film with very little money and shot it in Jharkhand, a place I know well as I was raised there. The government was happy someone was shooting there and gave us a rebate. The film cost Rs 4-4.5 crore, and the rebate reduced some costs. We were fortunate to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and secure a distribution deal with Amazon before streaming platforms became mainstream in India. That deal helped us recover our production costs,” he said.
Chaubey also spoke about producing the Malayalam film Undercurrent. He recounted how they secured a last-minute deal with Kochi-based Centre Pictures, one of the biggest distributors in Kerala. “They loved the film and were ready to release it. When it comes to the mainstream, we managed to pull it off somehow at the last moment. I would say we were just lucky,” he added.