‘Aamir Khan uses half a vanity van, comes half hour early, takes care of his entourage,’ says Vir Das

He confessed that once Aamir did his first shot of Happy Patel, Vir and Kavi had to pause for 30 seconds after calling cut only because they couldn’t believe they were directing Aamir Khan. “You’re trying very hard to fanboy. You also realize, in that moment, that some people just have this magical, ethereal thing that they bring on to the screen, which you can see in real time. You’ve shot with the entire cast, including yourself, who do not have that thing (laughs),” Vir said on a podcast on Hook’s YouTube channel.

“We improvised with him on an insane level with our suggestions. And he was just super secure,” revealed Vir. Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos also stars Mithila Palkar, Mona Singh, Sharib Hashmi and Srushti Tawade, along with another cameo by Vir’s Delhi Belly co-star Imran Khan, who returns to the big screen 11 years after Nikkhil Advani’s 2015 romantic comedy Katti Batti.

Vir had reached out to Aamir with the script of the film, proposing to co-direct it with Kavi, immediately after he won an International Emmy Award for his Netflix stand-up special Vir Das: Landing in 2023. He claimed that nobody else could back his quirky, offbeat spy comedy besides Aamir. Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos is slated to release in cinemas on January 16.

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What Aamir had said about entourage costs

Vir’s testimony shows that Aamir leads by example on set. Last year, on the podcast Game Changers, Aamir had slammed younger stars for burdening their films’ budgets with excessive entourage demands on set. He said, “These stars are earning in crores and yet not capable of paying for their needs? I find this extremely strange. It is very sad and harmful for the industry. I am saying it strongly that it’s a shame that even today, there are actors who are being very unfair to their producers and their films. When you can afford a lifestyle for yourself, why are you putting that on a producer? Why should the producer give you six vans when all you need is one van for makeup?”

Escalating entourage costs

A lot of film industry members, including seasoned producers, have flagged their concerns regarding escalating entourage costs on film sets these days. Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta said on the Cyrus Says podcast last year, “I know certain actors who have six vanity vans. It’s mandatory.” These include one each for personal space, hair and makeup, taking meetings, workout, dining, and staff. “Workout van means he’ll bring his trainer, his assistant, the driver of the van, and the maintenance man of the van. That’s six people for one van. Then, makeup and hair and the stylists have their own assistants,” he added.

He even pointed out that star couples are “worse” because they demand double the number of vans and entourage costs. “There are 11 vans that come on set. Don’t they eat together at home? They’re husband-wife, and still they have separate kitchen vans,” said Gupta. Veteran filmmaker and Alia Bhatt’s father Mahesh Bhatt also inadvertently revealed that there’s a vanity van for her daughter Raha Kapoor on the set.

Filmmaker Karan Johar even joked he wants his kids, Yash and Roohi Johar, to become hair and make-up artists once they grow up because of the prices they’re demanding from producers today. He further argued on the Game Changers podcast, “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. But if you are a regular hero, then your job is to look good, and look fit, you are an artist. If you want to eat healthy food, please go ahead, but why should I pay for that?”