Veteran filmmaker KC Bokadia has praised the professionalism of superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Rajinikanth, recalling how they never expected producers to bear the expenses of their personal staff.
In an interview with ANI, Bokadia reflected on how the working environment on film sets has evolved over the years, and urged today’s actors to respect production costs. “Amitabh Bachchan never took the salary of his staff. Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rajinikanth, all of them… They never made producers pay their staff,” he said, emphasising that producers should not be burdened with expenses that artistes can manage themselves.
Five decades in the industry
Bokadia has spent more than five decades in the film industry as a producer, director and screenwriter, and his comments carry the weight of that experience. His point was not nostalgia for its own sake, but a practical plea: when stars pass their entourage costs on to producers, smaller films suffer.
The interview, carried by ANI on November 4, was picked up by multiple outlets, and fans of all four stars shared the praise widely. For Bachchan, Shah Rukh, Salman and Rajinikanth, it was a rare moment of collective appreciation from a veteran who has worked across generations of Hindi cinema.
A lesson for today’s stars
Bokadia’s message lands at a time when star entourage costs — teams of managers, stylists, trainers and assistants — are a growing line item on film budgets. His argument is simple: the biggest stars in the business handled those costs themselves, and younger actors should follow their example.
Whether the message changes behaviour is another matter, but coming from a filmmaker of Bokadia’s standing, it has started a conversation about who pays for stardom, and whether producers should keep footing the bill.
