John Abraham got 9-member entourage to a chawl, says Sanjay Gupta: 'Amitabh Bachchan doesn't let producers pay for his staff'

The entourage debate has been a discussion in the industry for a while. This has come under limelight as the conversation about the growing budgets of movies and the pressure on producers has begun. While many film-makers have criticised this system of entourage of actor, film-maker Sanjay Gupta has now recalled some of his experiences. In a recent interview, he said that John Abraham once got a 9-member team to a chawl but he joked and called him the nicest guy because other actors have a staff of 18 people.

He said during a chat with Cyrus Broacha, "We were shooting in a chawl in Thane, inside this little house. In the morning, at 7 am, I was with my DOP (finalising shots and angles). Then I said, ‘Call John, call Kangana.’" Sanjay said he was told, “Sir, talent is on the way." He continued, “I said, ‘Who the f**k is talent?’ He said, ‘Sir, John is on the way.’ I said, ‘That’s an oxymoron.’"


Cyrus pretended to be upset about this statement and revealed that John is his friend. Sanjay responded, "John, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t mean him. He’s the nicest guy, because he didn’t have 18 (members in his entourage), he had nine."

Sanjay recalled feeling irritated and added, “I was like, ‘Who the f**k are these people? It was such a small room, and suddenly it was full. The one thing I hate is a crowded set. They said, ‘Nahi, nahi, sir, woh John ka staff Hai. I said, ‘John ka staff’? All my life, I’ve known Sanjay Dutt, whose staff used to be one boy and one makeup man, wherever he was."

He said further, "All the old-school guys, including Mr Bachchan, and Ajay Devgn and Hrithik Roshan, they only have one makeup guy and one spot boy. Producers complain about entourage costs, and rightfully so, and suddenly you’re paying lakhs."