Gulshan Grover feels that the failure of Deepika Padukone’s XXX and Priyanka Chopra’s Baywatch, has hurt the position of Indian actors in Hollywood. “Like xXx has hurt our stature at the negotiating table.That we have India’s leading actor with such huge premieres, but people didn’t really come to watch the film. Unfortunately, Baywatch and a film before that too.”
Grover adds that Indian actors won’t have any negotiating power unless we generate a lot of box office income. “So unless we don’t generate that kind of money, we don’t have the negotiating power, and anybody who is saying that they are doing well is simply lying. When it comes to international stars giving their inputs in the film, it happens before filming starts, they discuss and everything is put down on paper, there are no changes made on the sets.”
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Grover also feels that an ‘unemotional’ approach to the process of filmmaking is the sureshot way to finding success at the box office. “The large difference in Bollywood and Hollywood or international cinema is that they are more systematic. They play well and give authorities responsibilities. They have an unemotional approach towards the process of filmmaking. People who are responsible for costumes, it’s their work to do it, actors have to go and perform, that’s it! Working hours are set, the salary is set properly, even lunch hours and break are scheduled and followed. There is no ‘jugaad’. If an electric plug is not working on set then they just walk off because it is not safe, but here the actors wouldn’t even know that they are working in an environment like that, there would be someone who would do ‘jugaad’ and make that plug work, even if it means playing unsafely. There is a system in everything. Whereas now we are trying to be systematic here, but we depend a lot on our actors, and our Indian way of enterprising paired with multitasking. However, we are not able to compete with their budgets and their way of planning, really.”
Pic: Indian Express and Hindustan Times