India, Oct. 24 -- The rising entourage costs are still a hot topic in the Hindi film industry, and filmmaker Kiran Rao says that the high cost of teams is one of the reasons that push her to work with newcomers. "Even if the budgets have grown from Dhobi Ghat (2010, debut) to Laapataa Ladies (2023), my filmmaking is very independent. We believe in making things as tightly as possible, with fewer resources and trying not to be wasteful. Fresh actors are much easier following those rules," she tells us. The 51-year-old launched three actors - Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, and Sparsh Shrivastava - and has also seen ex-husband, actor Aamir Khan's son Junaid debut around the same time. She notes, "When you have a 'nepo kid' coming into the industry, they have baggage they cannot avoid. They're looked at through the lens of privilege. But in most cases, I've seen how hard and equally difficult their journey is." She insists that star kids face "the obstacles of perception", adding that it's easier for an outsider to make a mark in the industry today: "I agree with it. I also feel that in today's world, people want to discover talent. They have a curiosity about stars and their kids, but in order to make a person a star, they feel a responsibility." Highlighting "the death of the star system", Kiran says, "Stars are now found in different ways. They could come from a Reel, a series, a film, or could even be a director. Those are the new stars, whose work is being followed more closely. Everybody has their own echo chambers and following. That's the new world now, the idea of stardom has changed."...