Why actors charged below market rates for 'Ishqiya,' 'Udta Punjab'
Bollywood filmmaker Abhishek Chaubey recently revealed that actors in his acclaimed films Ishqiya and Udta Punjab took less money than their usual rates. He made the revelation during a session at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) titled Micro to Millions: Low Budget Films Becoming Blockbusters. While Udta Punjab starred Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh, and Alia Bhatt, Ishqiya featured Naseeruddin Shah, Vidya Balan, and Arshad Warsi.
'Actors understand this wouldn't necessarily be a money-spinner...'
Chaubey said, "When I directed films like Ishqiya and Udta Punjab—relatively not very small films—the stars in them did not charge their market rates." "They all worked for less money because I am working firmly in the alternate space within the mainstream." "Actors understand this wouldn't necessarily be a money-spinner, but it can do a lot of good for their reputation. It often helps them get meatier roles, so there are incentives for them."
Chaubey's journey and lessons in cost management
Chaubey started his career by assisting Vishal Bhardwaj in 2002 on the film Makdee, made on a shoestring budget of ₹40L. It taught him important lessons about managing costs in filmmaking. "What I did learn was that if you tighten your cost and work in a disciplined fashion, there is a way to do this," he said. His later work on bigger films only emphasized the need for cost discipline.
Chaubey's transition to production and cost recovery strategies
Chaubey also spoke about his transition into production with his company MacGuffin Pictures. His first production, Konkona Sen Sharma's A Death in the Gunj, was made on a small budget but recovered its costs through government rebates and a distribution deal with Amazon. "We made the film with very little money and shot it in Jharkhand... The government was happy someone was shooting there and gave us a rebate," he shared.
'We were just lucky': Chaubey on last-minute distribution deal
Chaubey also produced the Malayalam film Undercurrent, for which they got a last-minute distribution deal with Kochi-based Centre Pictures. "They loved the film and were ready to release it. When it comes to the mainstream, we managed to pull it off somehow at the last moment. I would say we were just lucky," he added. His latest work was the Netflix series Killer Soup.
