Will K-town A-listers agree to profit-sharing model?

Last week, producers from Tamil cinema came together to work on certain models in terms of the budget once Kollywood gets going post the pandemic. With a staggering loss of over Rs 1,200 crore as on date, producers have vigorously started working on cost-cutting solutions for their current and upcoming projects. The remuneration of stars has been a debatable topic in the industry for quite some time now.

There were reports that actors and technicians may have to take a pay cut of 50 per cent in the future and this would bring into effect the profit-sharing basis in Tamil cinema, which would streamline the industry. Producer CV Kumar of Thirukumaran Entertainment told DT Next, “Actors who do not belong to the A list category will agree for profit sharing basis. In fact, it has been going on for quite some time in Tamil cinema. However, we have more than a dozen A-list actors, who are the face of the Tamil industry. Films are being bought by the distributors for their face value, and they are the reason why we have early morning shows across the state. They are also the reason why theatres still thrive. And their films are sold even before the shoot is complete. So, I don’t see them entering the profit-sharing model anytime soon.”

Producer FEFSI Siva has been around for four decades and was also a part of the meeting last week. He said a few decisions were taken in the meet.

“You cannot approach a star and ask him to “reduce” his remuneration. It can be worked out in several other ways. We can ask a director or a cinematographer to cut their remuneration to a certain extent or the budget can be worked out. We cannot ask an actress to reduce to the salary as they aren’t paid as much as their male contemporaries. Talking about the profit-sharing basis, there are a few actors, who have compromised on their remuneration for the release of their films and have received their salary once the film fetches the desired revenue. In fact, Sivakarthikeyan gave Rs 1 crore more than his remuneration for Rajini Murgan’s release. The industry isn’t transparent enough to give away the exact box-office collections. Tamil industry producers will thrive only if good films are made in the future,” he explained.

SR Prabhu of Dream Warrior Picture too seconded his colleague Shiva’s opinion and said, “Our actors are aware of what their market value is and haven’t been charging an exorbitant sum of money. Have you ever heard of a producer complaining in the council that an actor has charged more than what was signed in the agreement? We will have a clear picture once the industry resumes in a few months,” he added.