Kriti Sanon and Vicky Kaushal on Entourage Culture: 'Anything That Burdens the Film Financially Should be Course-Corrected'

The question of entourage costs in Hindi cinema refuses to go away. It resurfaces every few months, usually when budgets spiral and producers quietly admit that too much money is being spent on things that never make it into the frame. Kriti Sanon and Vicky Kaushal address the issue in THR India's actors' roundtable, stripping it down to one essential question: what is necessary.... and what is luxury?

“I don’t know if actors can get together and cap it, but I feel like it has to be a combination of actors, entourages, producers— everyone cutting out what is not needed,” Sanon says.

Sanon is quick to draw a clear boundary between character-driven requirements and personal indulgence. “When it comes to a trainer or a dietitian, if it’s for the film, I understand that,” she says. Recalling Mimi, she adds, “I had a dietitian because I had to gain weight. That was very specific.” But beyond that, she doesn’t understand the logic. “If you’re taking a cook and all to set, I don’t understand that, to be honest. Then you’re doing it for yourself,” she adds. 

She also challenges the idea that excess is the norm. “I haven’t seen six vanity vans; I’ve heard about it, but I haven’t seen it on my sets,” she says. In her experience, producers do intervene. “Sometimes they do have a conversation when it’s getting out of scope or over budget.”

Kaushal echoes the need for immediate correction when costs spiral. “Anything that burdens the film financially should be course-corrected, 100 percent,” he says. At the same time, he acknowledges that some setups are practical rather than indulgent.

“If it’s an action film with a seven-to-seven schedule, and my only time to train is five in the morning, having a gym on set helps the film. That’s the distinction. If it’s helping the film, and every producer understands that, I believe,” he says.

When that line is crossed, Kaushal believes silence only worsens the problem. “If something becomes an issue on a film with a specific actor, it needs to be discussed directly,” he says.

Referring to Tere Ishq Mein, Sanon pointed out that any training she undertook for herself came out of her own pocket. “If I’m getting training, it’s my own money going there, which is fine. That’s personal. And that distinction matters,” she says.