Copyright news18
Veteran producer and former Producers Guild of India president Siddharth Roy Kapur believes that the Hindi film industry must evolve beyond its obsession with big stars. In a recent appearance on the Game Changers podcast, he addressed the growing concern around escalating star fees and how it impacts the industry’s sustainability. While acknowledging that A-list actors charging high fees poses a challenge, Siddharth clarified that the real solution is not to urge them to slash their prices but to innovate the business model itself. “If you take Hollywood as an example, in the 1990s, the prices of Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, and Tom Hanks had reached $20 million each. What did the studios do at that time? They went to franchises and things that didn’t need stars. And they built their own IPs that are not star-dependent. I believe that’s also very important for us,” he said. ‘Saiyaara’ And ‘Kantara’ Success Reflect Audience Shift Citing examples of this year’s biggest surprise hits, Siddharth highlighted Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara, a romantic drama starring newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, which earned over Rs 350 crore domestically. “Your star fees weren’t required there because you weren’t dependent on them,” he noted. He also mentioned other non-star projects such as Mahavatar Narsimha (Rs 250 crore), Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (Rs 88 crore in India), and Kantara: Chapter 1, which continues to dominate the box office with Rs 579 crore and counting. “The audience is telling us that if you give us good content without stars, then we don’t need stars either,” he said, emphasising that the audience’s taste has matured significantly in recent years. ‘Pay Big Money, Which Star Will Say No?’ Siddharth stressed that the onus lies with producers and studios to balance star-driven and content-driven cinema. “Rather than getting into why stars aren’t reducing their prices… if someone’s going to pay them, they’re going to take that price. Who’s going to say no? Our focus should be on how we make films which aren’t star-dependent,” he said. He further explained that while some films genuinely need star power, others are better off without it. “You must make films with Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, but you must make films without stars as well. Some films require stars. They’re star-driven. But the films that don’t need stars, don’t force stars onto them just because it’s a safety mechanism,” he advised. Siddharth’s own production banner, Roy Kapur Films, has backed both star-driven and non-star projects from The Sky Is Pink and Deva to Pihu and Yeh Ballet.
