Saurabh Shukla reveals why Amrish Puri had no entourage

Entourage costs of actors can be as high as ₹20 lakh per day for a large entourage including multiple vanity vans, chefs, personal trainers and more. Indian filmmaker Karan Johar called rising entourage costs an "ethical issue," not just a "financial one" in an interview. But, not all stars swear by the industry's pomp and splendour. In fact, Amrish Puri travelled only with one make-up man and drove his own car and spent minimal amount on entourage costs.

While stars splurge on entourages, Amrish Puri drove himself to sets, says Saurabh Shukla

Veteran star Saurabh Shukla recalled working with the star back in 2001 blockbuster Nayak: The Real Hero.

“At that time, it was enough for me that I was cast in a film. It was a big film and with a big cast: Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri. It was a good experience. We enjoyed a lot working on the film. It was also the first time I met Amrish Puri sahab. I met him at a time in my life when I would look at stars from a distance, and what we understood from being a star was that they carry an entourage with them," he said.

“But on the set of the film, I got to know… by the way, Amrish Puri used to charge one rupee more than the lead actor in his films. This shows he was such a big star but he didn’t have a secretary and he didn’t have a driver. He had just a make-up man, that’s all. I asked him, ‘Don’t you have a staff?’ He responded, ‘Main pagal hoon kya? Paise main kamao aur banta rahoon staff mein (Am I mad that I earn all my money and distribute it to the staff). That is the reason I have come to this interview driving my own car, and I don’t go with an entourage.'" Saurabh said.

Whether Amrish is truly down-to-earth or he only preferred hoarding wealth, cannot be said, but one thing is for sure: Karan Johar would be happy that the Nayak star at least showed "some grace" and wasn't travelling with eight people in his entourage.

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