There was a time in the 70’s and 90’ when an actor used to have four to five releases per year. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan on an average had three to four releases per year. During those days actors used to work in many films at a time and also work in various shifts. Popular actors used to remain so busy that they didn’t have any dates to spare. However, a drastic change has been witnessed in the film industry these days. With the entry of corporates huge money is being invested for making a movie today. We can say that the industry has become commercialised and box office returns matter a lot more today instead of merely receiving critical acclamation. Today a movie makes huge revenue from overseas markets hence the stakes have become higher.
Most of the films are easily crossing 100 crores while some make 200 crores and Dhoom 3 has made it into the 500 crore club. Thus there is lot at stake in the movie making business today which can make or break the fortunes of an actor. Earlier actors used to work for a fixed remuneration known as star fee but today A grade actors are demanding a share in profits out of the business made by their films at the box office. Many of them have turned producers so more money is pumped into the industry.
Therefore most of the actors like Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Shahid Kapur, are only doing one or two films per year. Aamir Khan was the first actor to start the one film a year policy in bollywood. The actor had a huge gap of four years between Lagaan and Mangal Pandey. Later, many other actors like Hrithik Roshan and Shahrukh Khan too have started emulating him.
Today an actor earns money through endorsements which further enhances his brand value. Earlier, few flop films didn’t make much difference to the career of movie stars. But today since large money is invested in a project there is immense pressure on every actor to deliver hits at the box office. Audience have to wait for a long period of time to watch the movie of their favourite actor. Hence there is more curiosity among viewers to view the film.
Today actors are also expected to be involved in the promotion of their films besides acting. They appear in reality shows, comedy shows etc to promote their movies. The first few weeks run are enough for a film to earn a decent profit at the box office. Even the timing of the movie’s release is decided in advance many times even before the cast is finalised as it happened in the case of film Shuddi. Finally, actors have realised that they will have to pay attention towards the script and banner to boost their career. Thus quality has become more important for actors today instead of quantity.
