Actresses who earn mega bucks

CRORE CLUB

Meet the powerpuff girls of T-wood, who earn mega bucks and have a pan-Indian presence

Suresh Kavirayani

The list of Tollywood babes who have reached the 1 crore-mark is increasing by the day. Although these leading ladies command a much lesser price when compared to their male counterparts, they compensate for the difference by taking up multiple films across the Indian film industry and working to a packed schedule all year through. Make hay while the sun shines seems to be the mantra of this powerpack.
It all started off with Ileana, who is believed to have set the benchmark with the NTR-starrer "Shakti". Following the success of "Pokiri" and "Kick", Ileana became hot property in T-Town and with filmmakers queuing up to sign her, she cashed in on her lucky run at the BO. After that there was no looking back as she went on to sign a big flick with Allu Arjun, followed by a Puri Jagannath film opposite Ravi Teja.
Close on her heels, Anushka, post the "Arundhati" high, reportedly charged the magic sum for "Billa" and the filmmakers were only too happy to oblige this leading lady, who proved that she could give even the heroes a run for their money. Though she gravitated to Kollywood and has a handful of Tamil films, she's still in demand and is all set for two big films with Nagarjuna and Prabhas.
While Ileana and Anushka catapulted to fame with a couple of big hits in a short span of time, for Trisha it was a steady climb. The actress who was always in demand is said to have stepped into the crore club with "Namo Venkatesa". The success of "Teen Maar" ensured she stayed in the big league, and with the NTR-starrer "Dammu" and Venkatesh-starrer "Bodyguard" ready for release, the actress is all set for a rich haul.
But the one who took the giant leap in terms of earnings is none other than Kajal Aggarwal. "Magadheera" changed her fortunes overnight. She followed it up with hits like "Brindavanam", "Darling" and "Mr Perfect", and landed her first 1crore project with the Mahesh-starrer "Business-man", says a source.
The latest entrant to the select club is Tollywood's 'lucky mascot' Samantha, who has filmmakers vying to cast her in their films. "Dookudu" was her passport to the big league and now she has almost five big Telugu films that have an envious star cast and some of the top directors in the South that include the likes of Rajamouli, Mani Ratnam, Gautham Menon and Deva Katta.
While this is the list as of now, another actress to watch out for is the "Happy Days" girl Tamannah. With three films in hand that include projects with A-listers like Ram Charan Tej and Ram, her upcoming film with Mahesh Babu might be her entry ticket to the coveted club.
suresh.kavirayani@timesgroup.com

Samantha

Anushka

Ileana

Trisha