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Who is India's biggest superstar?
The Times of India, Mumbai, had a story which said "Move over King Khan, Rajni's the real BO king". That got us thinking. While Shah Rukh Khan charges around 5-6 crore per movie, Rajnikanth is South Asia's highest paid actor, having earned around Rs 14 - 20 crore for "Chandramukhi". For his next movie "Shivaji", due for release this November, he will earn around Rs 15 crore, besides receiving 50% of the gross sale receipts of the film in Tamil and Telegu, pegging his income at approximately Rs 30 crore.
When an Amitabh Bachchan is "harassed" by the Income Tax department, it makes it to the front page, but when Rajnikanth's house was raided (it later turned out to be just a routine survey; just as the Big B's claims of being unduly targeted were refuted by the Finance Minister himself) last year, it did not make it to any of the inside pages of national dailies. Not even a mention.
Do we suffer from a bias against our South-Indian stars? Is there a perception (misconceived or otherwise) that they are less glamorous than our Khans and do not have pan-Indian appeal? After all none of the commercials on national TV have a Madhavan or a Chiranjeevi. Is a star's Bollywood stature our only measuring yard for success in tinsel town?
Since star status is very subjective, here one day, gone the next Friday, we decided to take a look at hard figures. SRK charges Rs 6 crore per movie. Rajnikanth produces his own films and that too on a tight budget. His production company Lotus International comes out with a new release every two years and sells the picture directly to 260 theatres across the four southern states. The theatres pay Lotus International a minimum 'guarantee' amount that could vary from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 75 lakh (for larger cities).
Irrespective of the fate of the movie, Rajnikanth's Lotus makes money. Usually to the tune of Rs. 60 crore (on an average of Rs 50 lakh per theatre). Music and international rights are the icing on the cake.
In contrast, Shah Rukh's Dreamz Unlimited has had only 1 semi-hit with "Chalte Chalte" which grossed Rs 16 crore. When Rajni's "Baba" made Rs 20 crore at the box office, trade pundits bemoaned the demise of the Rajni mania, for when it comes to Rajni movies, anything less than Rs 35 crore is considered a flop. Irrespective of the fate of "Baba" at the box office, Lotus International got richer by more than Rs 40 crore, a feat Dreamz Unlimited can only dream of! Given the huge market for Bollywood releases, distribution itself is a logistical nightmare for any Hindi film producer. So bypassing the traditional distribution channel altogether is unthinkable, a stunt only a Rajni can pull off!
Chitra Lakshmanan, Secretary, Tamil Film Producers Association was quoted as saying that for the past ten years "Saar" never had to worry about hits or flops, for he competed only against himself and, in what was quite a telling statement, said that that was a luxury no Bollywood superstar enjoyed.
The last hit delivered by Shah Rukh Khan was in 2004 when he gave a super hit in 'Veer Zara" and a moderate hit in "Main Hoon Na". "Veer Zara" grossed around 41 crore worldwide (source boxofficeindia.com), while "Main Hoon Na" made Rs 34 crore. Trade reports say Rajnikanth's "Chandramukhi" (2005) grossed at Rs 60 crore, the highest among Indian films. Compare that to last year's biggest grosser, "No Entry", which made Rs 44 crore or this year's favourite, "Rang De Basanti" that has made Rs. 51 crore.
Perhaps in recognition of "Chandramukhi's" phenomenal success, IIFA awards this year decided to inaugurate the festival by screening "Chandramukhi", a first for IIFA, which in its seven years of existence has always opened with a Hindi film.
Of course SRK with his quavering voice and sardonic expression is far more visible, what with him endorsing everything from cars to computers and eatables. He charges approximately Rs 5 crore per commercial. But the 'Badshah' of endorsements is not King Khan but the original "Shehenshah", Amitabh Bachchan. The Big B normally charges Rs 3.5 to 4 crore but when he struck a Rs 8 crore deal with Dabur, he became one of India's biggest mega-endorsers. He capped that with a Rs 10 crore fee for endorsing ICICI. He now endorses Pepsi, ICICI, Parker pens, Nerolac paints, Reid & Taylor suits, Maruti Versa and Dabur. The choosy Aamir Khan may not be as conspicuous as SRK but he struck gold when he was paid Rs 6 crore for endorsing Coke.
But just because we don't see them on national channels, does not mean our southern stars aren't hot property with FMCGs. TVS, Coke and Pepsi have southern stars Vijay, Surya and Vikram as their brand endorsers. The Economic Timesreported a deal struck by Emami Group with Chiranjeevi and Upendra, the Kannada super-star, for its Navratna hair oil brand (which is incidentally also endorsed by the Big B).
Harshvardhan Aggarwal, director Emami Group told The Economic Timesthat "localizing communication was a prerequisite for a diverse market like India." Emami sees its decision to rope in stars from the south as a sound investment, for what could be better than "have a local star communicate your brand message", quipped Aggarwal.
Chiranjeevi incidentally is the second highest paid actor in the country, after Rajnikanth, charging anything between Rs 5-8 crore per movie. And yet when Aamir Khan bagged Rs 7 crore for "The Rising", it was made to appear as if the diminutive Khan had broken all records by securing such an astronomical fee. Kamal Hassan earns as much as SRK per movie, while Nagarjuna is on par with Hrithik Roshan, charging around Rs 3-5 crore per movie. When a below average movie like 'Garv' did well, box office analysts said it was Salman Khan's indisputable star power that managed to turn a sure dud into a hit. Salman charges around 3.5 to 4 crore; Nagarjuna – Rs 3 to 5 crore.
Ever since 'Dilwale Dulhanniya Le Jayenge' beat 'Sholay' in box office returns, the overseas NRI audience became a lucrative market for Bollywood producers. SRK and the Chopra – Johar camp started making movies that would appeal to urban India and to the Indian Diaspora and SRK became a hot favourite with Indians abroad. But while SRK's fans are all of Indian origin, Rajni's fan base boasts of a more international flavour. After Raj Kapoor, Rajni is probably the only Indian star to enjoy such popularity with foreigners. He stole the hearts of thousands of Japanse youth with his film "Muthu", after which some fans traveled to Chennai hoping to catch a glimpse of their star. One of his movies 'Baba' even had a Japanese heroine in it, to appeal to Rajni's overseas market.
Tohato Company Ltd has a still from the Rajnikanth hit 'Muthu' on the wrappers of their 'garam masala snack' packet. Small crispy chips flavoured with garam masala are a big hit in Japan. For the public to relate to a product from India, the company thought of putting a still from the Rajni-Meena starrer "Muthu" on the wrapper. The product is apparently selling like hot cakes in Japan and solely because of its attractive wrapper. So great is Rajni's cult following in Japan that fans not only preserve the wrappers but some even have them framed! T-shirts, bracelets and rings with Rajni photographs are a safe bet for vendors for they always sell.
So, it might be time we remove our blinkers and hail the true superstars of India. But before we dethrone Amitabh Bachchan and crown Rajnikanth as the superstar of the millennium, one wonders if 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' would have been as big a hit if Rajni had politely inquired, "to lock kar diya jaye"?
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