Apart from paying the actors' remuneration, producers have to shell out money for the personal staff of an actor/actress that they bring on the film sets including their hair stylists, makeup artistes, spot boys, drivers and personal trainers, on an everyday basis.
"We (producers) cannot carry the burden of expenses that the staff charge. There have been times when the staff members of actors have charged exorbitant fees. They were unreasonable," producer Mukesh Bhatt, vice president of the Film and TV Producers Guild, told PTI.
According to Bhatt, make-up artistes and hair dressers have been asking for Rs 40,000-50,000 a day, while some drivers and spot boys were demanding Rs 5,000-15,000 a day.
"We need to curtail these expenses. We learnt that actors were also not aware about the amount charged by their staff. They (staff) used to take advantage by asking for more fees. It was an unfortunate malpractice... Hence it was important to have a regulation on this," Bhatt said.
Several Bollywood biggies including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor and others have agreed in-principle to the suggestion.
"We are happy that the stars have understood and agreed to our suggestion. No one opposed it. Stars have understood that it is their (the expenses of their staff) responsibility and they need to handle it," producer Kumar Taurani said.
Now as most actors have agreed, Bhatt said he will start meeting the actresses to put forth the suggestion.
More From This Section
"We have only met Katrina Kaif till now and she graciously understood things and is in support of us. We would soon start meeting other actress," Bhatt said.
Bhatt is hopeful that the new protocol would be effective from next week or so.