Bollywood is touted to be among the biggest film industries of the world, and has given birth to many transnational superstars. While some take upfront fees to be a part of the project, some opt for a profit-sharing deal to reduce the burden of recovery.
Indian media tabloid, Pinkvilla has revealed the fee of Bollywood A-listers.
Akshay Kumar is among the actors who juggles between profit sharing and upfront fees. The actor has charged over100 crores for his forthcoming Cinderella. However, for some relatively smaller films and home productions, the actor has adopted a hybrid model i.e. charging a minimum amount as acting fees and then entering the profit sharing agreement in the ratio of 40 to 50 percent share in the profits. The actor had come on board Sooryavanshi for a sum of Rs 70 crore. The reason for Akshay Kumar to get such huge fees are the revenues from satellite and digital, as Khiladi’s films tend to do well on both platforms.
Salman Khan was the first Indian star to get a salary of Rs 100 crore plus on a feature film with Sultan in 2016 and repeated the feat by becoming the first actor to get Rs 130 crore as acting fees in 2017 with Tiger Zinda Hai. Salman cracks a profit-sharing deal getting 60 to 70% of the total profits. Post Tiger Zinda Hai, it has all been home productions for Salman, which means he used to take home all of satellite and digital revenue as his acting fees. Bharat fetched him a sum of Rs 120 crore (Digital: Rs 80 crore, Satellite: Rs 40 crore).
Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan have adopted the profit sharing model since the start of last decade. While Shah Rukh has been getting 60 percent of profit as his acting fees, Aamir has taken things a notch higher with a 75 percent share in profit. He got an elephant’s share for Dhoom 3, and Dangal. The fees of both these stars vary as per the revenues of films from all sources – right from satellite, digital to theatrical.
Hrithik Roshan also has been following the profit sharing route for most of his films, though there have been instances where he has taken upfront fees and also opted for a hybrid model. He had opted for a 50 to 55 percent profit model for his last two releases – Super 30 and War.
Ranbir Kapoor has got around 65 to 70 crores for forthcoming Animal, whereas Ranveer Singh too has upped his stakes by charging upwards of Rs 50 crore for Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus.
Varun Dhawan is also contemplating to switch to the profit-sharing model soon.
John Abraham’s acting fees have gone up 3-fold over the pandemic, from Rs 7 crore in Satyameva Jayate to Rs 21 crore for its sequel.
Shahid Kapoor on the other hand charged Rs 31 crore for Jersey.
Tiger Shroff charges an acting fees in the range of Rs 25 to 30 crore, has got seen a massive jump due to producer Vashu Bhagnani, who paid him Rs 35 crore for Ganapath.