In recent times, the entourage costs of Bollywood stars has become a huge topic of discussion. But the concern isn’t just over the financial burden it brings on the producers and the industry, however, now it raises another issue which is inaccessibility of stars. While debates over celebrities’ rising entourage expenses have been ongoing, renowned designer Sandeep Khosla, one half of the celebrated duo Abu Jani–Sandeep Khosla, has now spoken out against how unapproachable actors have become.In a candid chat with Fashionably Pernia, Khosla expressed his frustration, saying, “In India, it’s a nightmare because you have to go through 25 people, the agency, the stylist, the stylist’s stylist, the third generation, the fifth person, the seventh person to get to an Indian celebrity. Till that time you are like bye-bye, thank you very much.”When the interviewer remarked that today’s stars travel with an entire “village,” Khosla shared a startling anecdote involving a popular actress. He recalled hearing from an air hostess that the actress’s behaviour leaves flight attendants nervous.“I was in a friend’s private jet, and the air hostess was telling us wonderful anecdotes about Indian film stars. She said there is a particular heroine, when she boards a flight, we are actually petrified because she doesn’t wish us, she doesn’t look us in the eye, and if we ask her for water, she will not even acknowledge our presence and her secretary or the person she is with will say ‘yes, she will have water’ and then we will serve the water to the secretary, and she/he will serve the water to her. We have created these monsters,” he said.As many producers and industry insiders have reflected on this, filmmaker Karan Johar also recently voiced his disapproval, clarifying that his concern isn’t financial but moral.“I have an ethical problem with entourages, not a financial one. We set a fixed budget for such needs. But if an actor wants anything beyond that, be it a personal trainer or specific dietary requirements, they should cover the cost themselves. I will pay for it only when it’s essential for the film, like in a sports drama requiring a certain physique,” Karan Johar told Komal Nahta on his YouTube show Game Changer.
