Rajeev Masand about payment of Actors

Given the time it has taken to complete both of the films he last signed up for, it is easy to see why Ranbir Kapoor jokes he’s been shooting epics, not films. Both Brahmastraand Shamshera have been long in the making and are currently deep in post-production, being readied for release in the new year.

Sources in the film trade say Ranbir has said ‘yes’ to star Kabir Singh director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s next project, believed to be a romantic film. Sources say the actor has bumped up his fees “considerably” from the Rs 30 crore he is said to have charged Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety maker Luv Ranjan’s film, slated to go on the floor shortly.

Insiders say Ranbir realises that he has lost precious time in his prime shooting two films over more than three years, and that the fee hike is a step towards catching up. It is also being said that he has asked for all his contracts hereon to include a fee bump if the project takes longer to complete than contractually agreed on. After the passing of his father Rishi Kapoor earlier this year, the actor is being advised by his trusted CA Bimal Parekh on his contracts, fees, and overall investments and finances.

Every Producer Loves Ranveer

You probably wouldn’t guess this but industry insiders have learnt that among Varun Dhawan, Tiger Shroff, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, it is the Simmba and Padmaavat star who is most “producer-friendly” by cost. Turns out that where Varun, Tiger and Shahid charge a sizeable upfront salary (believed to be in the range of Rs 20-30 crore) plus a significant profit share, Ranveer, whose upfront fee is in the same range, takes a marginally smaller share of profits.

That should not be interpreted to suggest he is the easiest to sign up. It only means that Ranveer and his management appear to have decided not to ‘overburden’ any project he signs up for with an unreasonable fee. Sources say he billed Kabir Khan and Reliance Entertainment roughly Rs 18 crore in upfront salary for ’83 and Karan Johar Rs 20 crore for an untitled romantic comedy with Alia Bhatt that begins shooting early next year.

Showing consideration for producers earns actors goodwill in a business where the former are frequently left bearing the bulk of the risk. As previously reported in this column, Ranveer agreed to work for a substantially slashed fee for Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus so Reliance could offset the mounting costs on ’83 after its release was scuttled due to the coronavirus.

Akshay Is King

Since we’re on the subject of fees and remuneration, it’s impossible not to bring up Akshay Kumar, easily Bollywood’s only star who appears to have not taken a big financial hit due to the pandemic. The 53-year-old star has five films in different stages of production, and despite the scathing response to his last release Laxmii in November, his fees does not appear to have been significantly affected.

The actor is believed to have charged Vashu Bhagnani, the producer of Bell Bottom, a cool—wait for it—Rs 117 crore. For his good friend Sajid Nadiadwala, he has apparently agreed to work at a ‘discounted rate’ of Rs 99 crore. This is for Bachchan Pandey, in which he stars with Kriti Sanon and Jacqueline Fernandez.

Unlike Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and even Salman Khan who seldom work on more than one or at the very most two films in a year, Akshay will have no less than four or five releases annually, taking his gross earnings up to… well, you do
the math!

Why are all these actors charging sooo much money and for what??! For a movie from 10 releases that crossed 150cr?
How do producers willing to pay to some more than 20cr and especially in a time like this??

And Akshay 100cr for a movie when his movies aren’t even able to cross 200cr??

Are the producers crazy??and is this some competition between actors who can ask for a higher numeration than the others? Some of these actors should give their money to the budget/writer to offer us some good quality movies.

I guess the numbers might not be accurate .

Why would anybody pay 100 crores to Akshay Kumar when his movies make 200 crores give or take a few crores. Maybe 100 crores are paid for a one off film.

Sorry but the Akshay Kumar fee? I call BS.

Thought he died. Does he still write his gossip column?

Originally posted by: GumGum

Does he still write his gossip column?

He still does the weekly Open magazine column minus the BI, I think.

Meanwhile, the writer of one of India's most popular sitcom Tarak Mehta ka has comitted suicide due to financial problem.

Originally posted by: GumGum

Meanwhile, the writer of one of India's most popular sitcom Tarak Mehta ka has comitted suicide due to financial problem.

Didn't know about this. Sad.

This is some sloppy work

Not buying that Ashkay number. He might hit 100cr after profit participation but his films would need to make more. No way he's getting 117cr upfront or even 99c at a discount. The budgets on his films would be 150cr+ and then most of them would be designated B.O. flops.

Varun, Tiger and Shahid charge a sizeable upfront salary (believed to be in the range of Rs 20-30 crore) plus a significant profit share, Ranveer, whose upfront fee is in the same range, takes a marginally smaller share of profits.

Showing consideration for producers earns actors goodwill in a business where the former are frequently left bearing the bulk of the risk

Recent news had it that after War Tiger just raised his fee to 15cr and that he's getting 30cr combined over two part films.

Why would Ranveer take lower profits on the back end after taking a smaller fee on the front end? That makes no sense. Taking profits on the back end is sharing the risk. No profits, no % of profits going to the star.

The fees also depend on the film. Actors frequently take less in smaller budget films that are passion projects, some take nothing at all upfront and take on the back end if there's profit.

Originally posted by: Talis

This is some sloppy work...

Why would Ranveer take lower profits on the back end after taking a smaller fee on the front end? That makes no sense. Taking profits on the back end is sharing the risk. No profits, no % of profits going to the star.

The fees also depend on the film. Actors frequently take less in smaller budget films that are passion projects, some take nothing at all upfront and take on the back end if there's profit.

Agree. He must have meant Ranveer takes a lower up front fee and makes it up on the backend. Otherwise it makes no sense unless he’s saying Ranveer is just a cheaper actor to hire? That could be true but I doubt it. I think that is what Akshay’s original business model was - lots of work at a lower per film fee. That doesn’t seem to be what Ranveer is going for so I think it’s just sloppy writing.

Corona must have heavily affected these stars now.

No matter its Salman, Akshay or Nawaz on OTT platform unless story is good no one gives damnn shit about their star power, people might click on the movie title link just because of these so called superstars but won't watch more than 15 20 mins if the story is not engaging.

OTT platform has given people the power to make actors with best acting and makers with best stories the STARS ...

check recent SCAM 1992 case, most of us never knew there was a person named pratiek gandhi , today he is popular.

OTT platforms will invest in stories which can engage audience, they don't need first day first show numbers like boxoffice. They are not dependent upon weekend numbers as the movie will be on their platform for years and years so no rush for huge initial numbers.

Look the case of LAXMI... it bombed terribly so now the platform is will think more than twice before buying movies just on the star name.

Coolie no. 1 was sold on loss by Vashu Bhagnani in order to stop further loss due to delay in release. So now it doesn't matter whether it is star movie or not. If you don't have story power you will have sell it for less.

I hope theaters never open ... so that we can save our money by not wasting upon those superstars movies which always turn out to be crap.