Makeup artist Shaan Mutthathil, who has worked with the likes of Jacqueline Fernandez and Shraddha Kapoor in his career of 20 years, recently reacted to Anurag Kashyap’s comment about rising entourage costs in Bollywood. Anurag had recently said that a celebrity’s makeup artist and chef charge more than assistant directors and camerapersons. Shaan said that Anurag lives in a ‘bubble’ and that his films don’t need expensive makeup and styling.
“I get paid very well, especially for a college dropout, a dumb person… Compared to a doctor or a pilot, I make so much more. It’s a lot,” Shaan said on the Phitte Muh with Sik and Jas YouTube channel. “Will this Anurag sir, after so many hits, go and do a movie for what a newcomer director will do? No. Of course, there’s a lot of jealousy, and I completely understand. Because we do get paid more than managers, than first ADs, and people in the camera department,” he said.
Shaan continued, “But not everybody gets paid Rs 1 lakh or Rs 2 lakh. There are only around 10 of us… It’s almost like me going and saying to Anurag sir that for your film, I want Rs 1.5 lakh. I wouldn’t get a call from him, first of all. In his films, he will have to call me to get the dark circles and to make the hair look frizzy. That’s what his heroines look like. Of course, he can lose his s**t when he hears Rs 1.5 lakh for makeup and hair when his heroines don’t need makeup and hair. He’s not doing a movie where there is a chiffon saree and blow-dried hair… I have never got a call from him, because I understand his films don’t need makeup and hair. His films are in some village with a heroine in a cotton saree of Rs 250 who wakes up and cries. His films don’t need the girl to run in slow motion and say something to the boy where her lips are in closeup. It’s a different world.”
Speaking about how Karan Johar addressed the matter differently, Shaan mentioned, “He was very clear. He said that the heroines are charging more and that the actors have to reduce their price. Because he knows the importance of makeup and hair. Why does he call Mickey Contractor? Why does he call a Manish Malhotra and not a C-grade stylist? He’s making a commercial film with that budget. He’s not crying about Mickey Contractor, who charges a really good amount. A choreographer also charges Rs 1 crore per song. Do you pay everybody Rs 1 crore per song?”
“I do films where the director wants me. For example, Mohit Suri pays me what I want for Aashiqui, for Half Girlfriend, for Malang. His films are glossier. What Anurag sir is saying is his world, his bubble. He was also calling out the agencies,” Shaan added and said that after 20 years in the business, he charges for his experience and reputation.
For the unversed, Anurag Kashyap had said in an interview with Janice Sequeira recently, “Somebody has a chef who charges Rs 2 lakh per day to make this strange healthy food. Jo dekh ke lagta tha ye khana hai? Yeh to bird feed hai (I wonder, ‘Is this food or birdfeed’)?” He added, “Itna chhota sa aata tha (The portion size is too small).” To Humans of Cinema, he said, “A lot of money that is spent doesn’t go into making the film. It goes into the paraphernalia, it goes into the entourage. You’re shooting in the middle of a jungle, but one car will be sent to the city three hours away specifically to get you that five-star burger you want.”