Producers want to cut payment of stars

Drama producers have long been complaining that stars one after another have increased their fees without caring for the rules and regulations. Some of the young artistes have increased their payments up to Tk 100,000 (Tk 1 lakh) per drama in one bounce. Meanwhile, advertisements have reduced in dramas along with a decline in revenue. Consequently, drama production has gone down.

People concerned are not seeing any other way out of this situation at the moment but to cut down on the production costs. The producers say that the payment of the stars is a huge obstacle in case of reducing expenses. If they do not reduce their payments the drama industry might just come to an absolute standstill.

Owner of the YouTube channel named 'Live Take' Tamjid Atul said, for example let’s say the budget of a drama is between Tk 300,000 to Tk 700,000 (Tk 3 to 7 Lakh). About 50 to 60 per cent of that budget goes into the payment of just one star.

Several producers alleged that the stars used to increase their payments giving the excuse of views their dramas earned on YouTube. For that reason increasing the payments had turned into a custom for them. Even there have been such incidents where some of the stars have raised their payments twice a year.

The producers also said that alike every other sector in the country there was disorder in this sector as well. Tamjid Atul said, "If 60 to 70 per cent of the budget of a drama is paid to just one artiste, there’s hardly anything left. The way revenue is shrinking away, it’s not possible to cope up with that by producing big budget dramas like before."

"The artistes must reduce their payments. Some should slash their payments by one third and take it back the way it was before. Some have to cut it down by half. Otherwise the industry will move towards an even bigger catastrophe in future," he added.

Director and producer Mostafa Kamal Raj repeated the same. One of the topmost drama channels on YouTube is his channel named ‘Cinemawala’. From his experience this director said that the production of dramas have decreased tremendously. There is no investment like before. No one is taking the risk of shooting. It is necessary to get out of this situation.

Raj said, "A major chunk of the payments in a drama has to be paid to just one star. Although there was a better revenue coming from dramas at one point, that’s not there any more. The advertisements are going for other options. For the lack of sponsors I am finding myself unable to release dramas. They are saying that they don’t have the funds. Besides, there has been an 80 per cent decline in advertisements on dramas in YouTube."

"That’s why even if there are views on the dramas the revenue has decreased a lot. This makes it impossible to earn money from big budget movies. Before everything else, the market needs to be run. For that, the stars need to reduce their payments. Right now it is important to take the market back to its previous state together. Everyone, including artistes have to come forward for that," he continued.

Some stars like Musharraf Karim, Ziaul Faruq Apurba, Mehazabien Chowdhury, Niloy Alamgir, Farhan Ahmed Jovan, Tawsif Mahbub, Musfiq R Farhan are more popular in YouTube-centric drama channels. These stars charge Tk 200,000 up to Tk 400,000 (Tk 2 to 4 lakh) per drama. Sometimes, they charge even more. However, some stars charge less for their work based on their personal relations with producers also.

Among these artistes, Tawsif Mahbub said he had increased his fees from a logical point. He emphasised more on the quality of his work. He used to work taking time. But, he never heard anyone complaining about this payment. He claimed never increased his payments twice a year.

Tawsif said, "I fix my payments in coordination with everything else. Now if I’m told to decrease my payments in the interest of the industry turning around, I’ll definitely take a decision logically for the sake of the industry."

"The joint interest of all has to be considered here before individual interests. If I need to make sacrifices, I will. We just want our industry to turn around. Maybe one day our skills will bring us even more payments," Tawsif added.

Another of the highest paid artistes Musfiq R Farhan said, "We are finding less number of projects to work on in the drama industry. If I have to reduce the payments for us to turn around from this situation, I will definitely reduce it. I believe all the artistes will do the same. If there’s any decision on this, I’ll be with that."

However he reminded to be aware that no one turns into an opportunist finding the scope to produce dramas on low budget. Then the artistes might also face losses. He also spoke on the issue of sponsorship in dramas at this time.

Musfiq said, "How much the sponsorship has declined now? It’s one thing if there was sponsorship of Tk 6 before and now it has been reduced by Tk 4. Then there will be a pressure created on the budget. From that point, how much it has reduced is a question as well. Besides, those who had invested before, shutting down their investments completely also raise a question. However, from my standpoint I have my full support to the drama industry."