Diwali means festival of lights and joy. Diwali also means welcoming the Goddess of money, Laxmi to our homes. So Diwali also has a lot to do with money and monetary gains. That makes up discuss the monetary gains of our film celebrities. Bollywood, no longer, is an industry that plays in lakhs. The gamble has grown bigger. Today they talk in multiples of crores. That’s the budget of our films and a major part of which is constituted by the star remunerations. Remunerations decide who is ruling the industry and how. Today we talk about the top actors as per their market value.
Akshay Kumar
In the last couple of years, Akshay Kumar has overtaken Shah Rukh Khan when it comes to gaining the Number 1 position. With a constant spate of hits like Namastey London, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiyya, Welcome and Singh is Kinng, Akshay Kumar is the most coveted actor in Bollywood today.
From his earlier choice of directors like Suneel Darshan, Dharmesh Darshan and Raj Kanwar, Akshay has also graduated to more sensible directors like Vipul Shah, Anees Bazmee and Priyadarshan.
He even surged past SRK on the small screen when he charged Rs 1.5 crore per episode for Fear Factor which was higher that SRK’s fees for Kya Aap Panchvi Paas Se Tez Hai . Akshay has also gained a strong fan-following in the international arena, something which only Shah Rukh boasted of earlier.
Shah Rukh Khan
A little below Akshay Kumar’s current success ratio, but otherwise Shah Rukh Khan who has ruled the roost for almost a decade still enjoys immense star power and audience appeal. Shah Rukh Khan is still a favourite amongst the Yash Raj ( Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi ) and the Karan Johar banner ( My Name is Khan ) who are amongst the biggest banners of the industry. But its reported that SRK doesn’t charge huge with these banners.
Even for his home production Om Shanti Om , Shah Rukh Khan claimed that he charged himself Rs 5 crores as his remuneration. But more importantly SRK has now shifted focus to production from where he gains major money. Post OSO, he is now producing Billo Barber and has some more productions lined up under Red Chillies Entertainment.
Aamir Khan
Mr Perfectionist has always maintained that money is secondary to him as compared to content. Aamir has always stressed on good quality projects. But that never deterred his market value and more and more producers are offering him good amounts. In fact Yash Raj Films made an exception when they agreed to give him Rs 8 crores for Fanaa .
Today Aamir has producers and studio models vying him for multi-film deals. Post the success of Taare Zameen Par , Studio 18 had offered Aamir a multi-film deal which resulted to Rs 20 crore per film. But Aamir politely declined the offer claiming he wanted the script before signing on dotted lines. That in itself substantiates his star power.
Salman Khan
Salman Khan has always remained in news for all the wrong reasons including his jail episodes, his romantic linkups, his brash behaviour and much more. But one thing that has never been spoken about Salman Khan is his remuneration. No doubt he boasts of a huge appeal esp. amongst the masses but still nobody knows his proper market value in terms of the number of crores he charges.
Of course his fee reports came out during the television show Dus Ka Dum where he reportedly charged Rs 89 crores for the entire series. But what he gets in films is still not very clear. Nevertheless one thing’s for sure - he clearly constitutes the top 3 Khans of the industry and is surely in the Top 5 list.
Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan is somewhere in Aamir Khan’s league since he does very selective films and charges a bomb for those. And producers are willing to pay him the amount since he is the most dependable actor around. A film like Jodhaa Akbar budgeted at a magnanimous budget of Rs 42 crores is a proof to the fact. Hrithik gave the film his best.
A couple of years back, Hrithik was offered a Rs 15 crore deal by Adlabs, which of course is passé for him in the current scenario. Today he can demand much more and get that much. But currently it’s not easy to estimate his market value because he had mostly been associated with his father Rakesh Roshan’s films including Krrish, Krazzy 4 and Kites. And what one charges or gets in home production is never quite an easy estimate.
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt has survived a pretty bad phase in Bollywood. For years he has been running around courts for his long-pending legal cases. That had dipped his salability despite being an actor of tremendous potential. Many producers backed off while signing Sanju in films taking in account his pending verdict.
Only good friends like Suniel Shetty stood behind him and today when he is free he has gained back his credibility and appeal. Sanjay Dutt charges Rs 8 crores today and good friend Suniel Shetty asserts that he shall pay him what he deserves and not exploit bargains on grounds of friendship. Even Sanjay Dutt has realized who to trust on and rearing to go in his new innings in life.
