Aishwarya’s pregnancy might have brought her and her family immense happiness but it has given the producers of Bollywood few jitters.
With Aishwarya Rai getting pregnant, Madhur Bhandarkar is hopping mad as he stands to lose around 4 crores. This has made the other producers talk about pregnancy clause in the contract.
Subhash Ghai is the only producer to ever have such clause in the contract. Apparently while shooting ‘Khalnayak’ he had a no wedding and no pregnancy clause in Madhuri Dixit’s contract who at that time was dating Sanjay Dutt.
Where few producers think that such clause would be beneficial, the others think that it’s not right to intervene in private issues.
Mahesh Bhatt, the famous director and producer said, “Producers would be foolish to have such a clause. It's the leading lady's privilege to get pregnant. Being a member of the Film Producers Guild of India. I'd refrain from this absurd exercise. But it's the duty of the lady to see that she doesn't jeopardize the film by pursuing her personal goals, causing immense hardship to the producer”.
Ekta Kapoor the famous TV and movie director, “As a professional I can say all the proper things, like we should have a clause and a way of compensating the producer, but on the personal front, as a woman, I think it's a big deal for a woman. Pregnancy is a very happy moment for any woman and I can't think like a producer in such a situation. For a woman over 30, getting pregnant is a huge achievement and a moment of happiness. A producer can't come in between. Having said that, in the future we will be working on adding the clause”.
Vipul Shah said that though he doesn’t approve of the pregnancy clause he wishes that Film Producers Guild took a more active role like in Hollywood.
“I have never made any contract till date with any of my actors. Why say that film production is a risky business if we can't take risks?” said Sajid Nadiadwala.
But the likes Bhushan Kumar and famous critic Taran Adarsh seem to support the clause.
“If the Film Producers Guild passes such a rule inserting this clause in the film contracts, I will support them as I am a member too. I will support it because it's important. But I will also add that such a clause cannot work in India as we are more of a relationship-based industry than a business-oriented one”, said Bhushan Kumar.
“I think it's an important clause (of not getting pregnant) since the budgets are huge and crores of rupees are at stake. Even otherwise, pregnancy can throw the shooting schedule of a film out of gear, resulting in financial losses. The actors and the industry should welcome this clause”, concluded Taran Adarsh.