The vanity van culture entered Tollywood in the early 2000s and ,over the years, they started burning holes in the pockets of producers.
Published Aug 10, 2022 | 6:13 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 11, 2022 | 2:12 PM
Vanity vans have become "second homes" for actors these days. (Creative Commons)
Back in the day, in between shots, film actors used to sit beside the director or the cameraman. A chair, a book/newspaper and a friendly chat were all they needed to enjoy the break.
While it was, and is still, easy for the male actors to change their costumes in an isolated spot (behind the tree or bush), the women actors used to erect four bamboo sticks and wrap sarees around them to create a private space, away from the film sets.
These private spaces came to the rescue of not just the likes of Savithri, Jamuna, Bhanumathi, Jayasudha, Radha, Bhanu Priya and Vijaya Shanti, but also legendary actors like NT Ramarao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Krishna and Sobhan Babu, to name a few. Well, there were no vanity vans then.
The vanity van culture was introduced to the Telugu film industry in the early 2000s. The trend initially began in Bollywood and was adopted by Kollywood, Sandalwood and Tollywood.
Gradually, these vanity vans became popular as “second homes” for actors — even heroes. Let’s take a quick look at how the vanity van culture evolved over the years.
Allu Arjun’s vanity van from Falcon brand was reportedly priced at ₹7 crore. (Facebook)
A vanity van comes with two rooms — one small and one big. Both the rooms have attached restrooms, a TV, an air-conditioner and a sofa-cum-bed. A vanity van needs a generator and diesel to operate, besides a driver and cleaners.
While a basic vanity van costs a whopping ₹30 lakh-plus, it is available for rent at ₹3,000 per day. So, if a production house wants to hire a vehicle for 30 days, it costs around ₹1 lakh.
The more the comforts, the costlier these vanity vans are. Similarly, the more actors in a film, the more vanity vans are needed and the more rent to be paid. To sum up, this amount only adds to the production cost of a movie.
It’s no secret that all the A-list actors have their own, customised vanity vans.
Besides senior actors like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja and Naresh, younger generation stars like Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, Jr NTR and Ram Charan have their own personal luxury vehicles.
Allu Arjun’s metallic black vanity van from the Falcon brand allegedly cost him a whopping ₹7 crore. It has a recliner seat, imported lights, a music system, a comfortable bed and a separate seating area.
Mahesh Babu reportedly shelled out nearly ₹6 crore for his grey vanity van which flaunts lux furniture and amenities. He is believed to have had his swanky vehicle customised by renowned brand DC. There were a couple of shots in his film Maharshi where he can be seen having a cup of tea in his vanity van.
Mahesh Babu’s vanity van is said to have cost around ₹6 crore and was featured in a couple of shots in his film Maharshi. (Facebook)
Interestingly, no female actor in Tollywood owns a vanity van yet, since it’s a costly affair. Unlike their counterparts, the female actors are apparently not paid in crores.
“Actors prefer vanity vans for the air-conditioning, enjoying their meals, chilling out with family/friends who usually turn up at the shoots, make-up, costume-changing, and a quick nap. In short, the actors consider these to be their ‘home-away-from-home’ because they get to spend a great deal of time in them,” a producer, who did not want to be named, told South First.
However, producers have to bear the recurring expenditure like diesel charges, generator rent, and salaries of drivers/cleaners. “Despite the hefty remuneration, the A-listers won’t foot these bills, which is unprofessional,” he added.
And now, small-time actors and character artists are demanding personal vanity vans, too.
Vanity vans were introduced to the Kannada film industry in 2006-2007. Interestingly, there were several drivers of vanity vans who took loans to buy these vehicles and rent them out to production houses for a decent amount. But it took not less than 3-4 years for all this to happen.
Ganesh wanted to be a technician in Sandalwood, but fate had other plans for him and he was forced to take to the road.
He entered the industry when the Kannada film Omkara was on the sets. His duty was to pick up and drop the cameras at the shooting locations. Later, he turned into a vanity van driver.
Jr NTR’s vanity van. (Facebook)
“Way back in 2009, when these luxury vehicles were not yet introduced to the Kannada cinema, producers used to get them from Chennai even though this proved costly, owing to tax and transport charges. The purpose was to ensure privacy for actors, particularly females, and make them feel at home,” Ganesh, told South First.
He is hired by production houses whenever there is film shooting and is paid ₹977 per call sheet.
“These swanky vehicles have everything from TV, DVD and air-conditioners to attached bathrooms, seating arrangement for make-up, and bedding. Stars prefer them because of these comforts. Occasionally, I double up as their personal assistant,” he added.
Madhusudhan Reddy, a senior production manager, told South First that these vanity vans are a way to loot the producers.
“It’s true that vanity vans offer comfort and privacy to the actors, but they also burn a hole in the pockets of producers. The producers have to pay for the diesel, generator, driver and cleaners — not just the hired ones, even for the vanity vans owned by actors,” he said.
Besides, these vehicles occupy a lot of space. They are usually parked away from the shooting locations, so they don’t get filmed accidentally.
“Vanity vans are the go-to places for actors during their breaks. The actors are informed about the shots through assistant directors or personal assistants. Needless to say, they take their own sweet time to return to the sets. Little do they realise that in the film industry, time is money,” Reddy added.
Actor Allu Arjun inside his personal vanity van. (Facebook)
A renowned producer, under the condition of anonymity, revealed that every actor — and even small-time/character artists — are asking for a personal vanity van these days.
Earlier, producers used to hire a vehicle for character artists, since they get to do only a couple of shots. But now, they are demanding personal vanity vans, in addition to their remuneration.
“Nobody wants to adjust. Every actor is looking for comfort and luxury of late. They also expect producers to fulfil all their unjust demands. But not many know that we producers have ‘no or little’ say in the Telugu film industry,” he averred.
“While the actors hog the limelight and are paid in lakhs/crores in remuneration, we producers bear the brunt when a movie flops at the box office.”
He also underlined the need to bring down the production costs by eliminating such unnecessary expenditure, for the greater good of the Telugu film industry.
