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‘Stars have made stacks of wealth at the cost of the rest of the film industry.’
IMAGE: Producer Vashu Bhagnani with Akshay Kumar. Photograph: Kind courtesy Vashu Bhagnani/Instagram
News reports stated that Producer Vashu Bhagnani’s production company Pooja Entertainment was facing losses to the tune of Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) due to a series of flops.
Film-maker Suneel Darshan, who has made films like Jaanwar (1999), Ek Rishta: The Bond Of Love (2001) and Talaash: The Hunt Begins (2003), gives his point of view to Subhash K Jha.
Akshay Kumar’s salary was reportedly Rs 165 crore (Rs 1.65 billion) for the four consecutive duds he did with Vashu Bhagnani (Bade Miyan Chota Miyan, Mission Raniganj, Cuttputlli and BellBottom). Should he not shoulder a part of the blame for the crisis?
I wouldn’t like to comment on that.
But I will say this: Vashu Bhagnani had enjoyed a Midas touch phase in the 1990s when he collaborated with David Dhawan for almost half a dozen movies.
What happened thereafter?
The David-Vashu collaboration lost its sheen.
Vashuji was a highly resourceful entrepreneur. He produced several films in the second phase but success eluded him.
But through the past two decades, he has met with success in his construction business.
IMAGE: Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Photograph: Kind courtesy Vashu Bhagnani/Instagram
Did Vashu Bhagnani recently branch into business other than film production?
Yes. His migration to the UK recently (Bhagnani has reportedly set up a film studio in the UK town of Luton, where films like Bellbottom, Mission Raniganj and Cuttputlli were reportedly shot), and availing of handsome tax breaks lured him into wooing Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff for his half a dozen movies, which misfired miserably.
Do you think the star system is bringing the industry down?
Unfortunately, the realisation that stars don’t make a movie but vice-versa is now dawning upon the corporates, who have disrupted the nature of the movie-making business while the stars have made stacks of wealth at the cost of the rest of the film industry.
IMAGE: Suneel Darshan, right, with Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar on the sets of 2001’s Ek Rishta. Photograph: Kind courtesy Suneel Darshan/Instagram
What’s the solution?
As we enter the correction phase, it’s time to watch their new strategy which, hopefully, should put the movie industry on to the right track, provided that the actions initiated are in the interests of the film industry at large rather than with a myopic view.
