Karan Johar expressed frustration over Hindi stars asking for more money than their films are worth. He admitted to giving in before but is now pushing back. He shared that stars turned down his film Kill over salary issues, and Zoya Akhtar even blamed him for starting the trend by paying high fees earlier. In a roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter India, Karan mentioned low box office openings for films with Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn. He said, “Everybody has to look at their remuneration levels.” To this, Zoya Akhtar said, “Karan, you just have to stop paying them.”
Karan Johar said that he doesn’t pay big fees anymore. He has told stars. He said, “I don’t pay anymore. I’ve said, ‘Thank you very much, I can’t pay you’. I am not paying anyone. What were your last couple of films? How much have you opened to? What right do you have to ask me for this number? I produced a small film called Kill, I spent the money on it because it was a high-concept film with a rank newcomer. Every star that we went to asked me for the same money as the budget. When the budget is Rs 40 crore, how can you ask for Rs 40 crore? Are you guaranteeing me that the film will do Rs 120 crore? There’s no guarantee.”
Karan went with newcomer Lakshya, calling him an ‘outsider’ he gave a chance to. He mentioned how Hollywood started this trend years ago by giving new stars big franchise roles supported by studios. He said, “Hollywood started doing this a decade ago, when they started giving these new stars all the tent pole franchise films. They were empowered by the studios. That’s what needs to start happening here. You can take younger actors, and you can tie them in contractually and not let them do a similar franchise for another studio…”
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