Shabana Azmi Is Astonished By New Age Actors Entourage Cost, Recalls Having Three-Member Team

Shabana Azmi has recently expressed her astonishment at the entourage costs of new-age actors which has to be covered by producers. She shared her thoughts during a recent interview, providing a stark contrast between the past and present eras of Bollywood. Shabana Azmi mentioned that she used to have a three-member team and when it was a low-budget film there was no one.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Shabana Azmi said, “I find it astonishing that producers pick up these crazy tabs. In Hollywood, I have never seen anything like this except for personal trainers. The main dress designer, hairdresser and makeup artiste are all appointed by the producer’s team, [and no actor needs to bring their person staff].”

Shabana Azmi said that when she was working in earlier days, she used to have a three-member team. “During the 1970s and 1980s, I only had a three-member team — a hair dresser, a make up artist, and the driver. In low budget films, we had nobody. At the most the unit makeup man and hair dresser,” shares the actor, adding that in case of projects with a limited budget, “I used my own clothes , used the unit’s hair and make-up person and always stayed in the same hotel as the unit,” the actress added.

Recalling the old days, the actress mentioned that she used to travel in a bus with Smita Patil when shooting for Mandi. “I remember (late actor) Smita Patil and I had been given separate cars for the shooting of Mandi. In two days, we gave them up and travelled in the bus with all the actors because they were having so much fun while singing and playing silly games!” she recounts, sharing another anecdote where she bought her director an air ticket “when I realised he was travelling by train”.

Recently, Anurag Kashyap blamed producers and agencies for actors’ unreasonable demands and surge in entourage cost. He said that the surge in cost was noted after the OTT uprising. He believes the cost rose after more agencies got involved in making a star a brand and as a result, stars and their entourage are paid more than the crew that actually sits down to make a film or a series.