MUMBAI, Dec 22 — From fleets of private trailers to personal chefs and sprawling entourages, Bollywood stars’ “obnoxious” demands are driving up production costs and putting a strain on the Indian film industry’s finances, insiders say.

Bollywood has long been unpredictable at the box office and the pandemic compounded problems, but producers argue that today’s losses stem less from creative failure and more from top artists’ runaway expenses.