Bang for the buck?
Akshay's 20-crore price tag is
wrong because his solo films just aren't working at the box-office;
Sunny Deol, Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan may deliver an occasional
success but they've also given huge duds, which means they lack the
consistency of Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman. However, the fees the stars
charge don't vary according to the fate of their films – the pay packet
is not cut if a film flops. But Aamir Khan is a class apart. From
charging a fee and a percentage in profits, Aamir now keeps a share in
the profits his starrers make. "That way, I am not burdening the film's
budget with my cost, and I am also ready to put my neck on the line,"
says Aamir matter-of-factly. "By not taking anything upfront and only
charging a fee for acting if the film makes a profit, I am openly
stating that if the audience doesn't like my film, I don't deserve a
penny."
The
Indian obsession with a male child manifests itself in film viewing
habits too. That explains why hero-oriented films open far better than
heroine-oriented ones. Women-oriented films like No One Killed Jessica
and Kahaani started slowly and scored only afterwards. The Dirty
Picture, for all its claim of being a woman-centric story, still boasted
of three heroes, hit music and titillating fare! Kareena Kapoor, the
heroine of Heroine, has been paid a reported fee of R4 crore but she
won't be entitled to even one per cent of the profits in the film. By
the way, Sridevi was the only actress who nearly touched the one-crore
mark in the Nineties. The leading lady of such heroine-oriented films as
Chandni, Nagina and Chaalbaaz had, years ago, signed a film for Rs 1 crore but that film never got made.
Character
actors rank even lower than heroines in the pay hierarchy. But over the
years, supporting actors have started charging exorbitantly. So you
have Irrfan getting Rs 1.5 crore and Paresh Rawal insisting on a fee with seven zeros or, at least, Rs 75-80 lakh.
(1) All figures are approximate.
(2) Rates/fees are never fixed. Adjustments/concessions are almost always made.
(3) Aamir Khan charges the maximum fee among all the stars, for endorsements.
(4)
Shah Rukh Khan probably earns more every year by way of endorsement
fees than for acting in films. He endorses about a dozen brands but
works in one or two films a year.
(5) Shah Rukh has always maintained
that he wouldn't mind over-charging for endorsements and stage shows
but would prefer under-charging film producers because he owes his
stardom to films and film producers.
(6) Salman Khan is not as popular for brand endorsements as compared to the size of his superstardom because of his court cases.
(7)
Till about four years ago Saif Ali Khan used to endorse the highest
number of brands but he has since cut down on the number of products he
sells.
(8) For performing on stage at televised events (like awards
functions), stars get paid almost the same amount they charge per day
for endorsements. For non-televised events, the payment is about 50-60%
of the endorsement fee per day.
Top Draws
The cool club of Bollywood's Khan Crorepatis almost always ensures a spectacular opening at the box office
Salman Khan
Acting fee per film 23-27cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 1.5cr
Aamir Khan
Acting fee per film (share in profit, could go up to) 40cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 4cr
Shah Rukh Khan
Acting fee per film 20-25cr (including share in profit)
Endorsement fee (per day) 2-3cr
Stars' big bucks come from…
Movies
Guest Appearances
Endorsements
Stage shows
Hosting stage shows
Hosting TV shows
Attendance at weddings/functions
Judging reality TV shows
Dancing/performing at events
The only appearance for which stars,
thankfully, don't charge money are those made at funerals of friends, acquaintances and
respected industry people.
Big players
Actresses lag behind the men when it comes to money
Katrina Kaif
Acting fee per film 3-4cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 1-1.25cr
Kareena Kapoor
Acting fee per film 3-4cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 1-1.25cr
Vidya Balan
Acting fee per film 2.5-3cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 0.25-0.5cr
Priyanka Chopra
Acting fee per film 2-3 cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 0.65-0.75 cr
Deepika Padukone
Acting fee per film 1-2.5 cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 0.5-0.75 cr
Anushka Sharma
Acting fee per film 1-1.5 cr
Endorsement fee (per day) 0.25-0.4 cr
Colour of producers' money
With the remuneration of actors, actresses and
technicians
soaring, how does a producer still end up making profits? Well, it's
not really tough because business has also grown manifold in the last 10
years. The main reasons for the growth are the high ticket prices in
cinemas and the ever-growing sources of
revenue, particularly sale
of satellite rights. The desperation of corporate houses is another
reason why producers of star-cast films are not generally in the red.
Since
most corporate houses have to show turnover to shareholders, they
assign projects without weighing the pros and cons. As it is, they have
deep pockets due to the availability of public money and institutional
funding. Since they fund star-studded films, the
producers of those
films could end up laughing all the way to the bank even if the
corporates incur losses due to high costs. And frankly, even corporates
don't incur losses in their books of account because most of them
amortise only 50 per cent of the cost of a film in the first year. This
amounts to accounting jugglery but that's the way it is.
This is
not to say that these costs have not had an adverse effect on the
viability of projects. Many of Akshay Kumar's films would not be termed
flops if his price were to be a third of what it is. And if that had to
happen, most of his producers who have
been making losses, would end up making profits.
Enter, the actor-producer
Not
satisfied with earning handsomely as actors, many of our leading men
have turned producers. Right from Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman to Akshay,
Ajay Devgn, Sunny, Anil, Amitabh, Saif, Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham,
every actor worth his name and probably unworthy of his crores has
jumped on to the production bandwagon. When the success ratio of films
is barely 20 per cent and when it is the producer who suffers losses if a
film flops, why would stars turn to such a risky business? It is
because of three reasons:
(i) Of the 20 per cent films which
click every year, 75-85 per cent are star-studded fares and so, it makes
sense for stars to produce films with themselves acting in them.
(ii)
It is a fallacy to think that it is the producer who bears the brunt of
the losses when a film bombs at the box-office. If a film is pre-sold
to distributors or a corporate house, the producer can make a profit
even if the film fails at the ticket windows as, in such cases, the loss
would be the corporate's or borne by the distributors. Examples of
producers making money while corporates or distributors incurred heavy
losses are aplenty. Omkara, Guzaarish, Tees Maar Khan, Kites are some.
(iii)
With theatrical earnings being only one part of the revenue stream of a
film, a star-producer can make gains even if his film doesn't fare well
at the turnstiles, by pre-selling satellite, audio and other rights.
This
is not to say that star-producers never make losses. Of course, they
do. Saif Ali Khan, nicknamed Travel Agent Vinod after the many countries
his character in his home production, Agent Vinod, travels to, will end
up burning his fingers and toes in the thriller. Had Saif only acted in
it, there was no question of him losing money. But in most cases,
star-producers end up making profits because star-studded films have
better chances of clicking with the public and also because star-struck
corporate houses are willing to fund films of star-producers and take
the risk of distributing them.
Interestingly, stars never brag
about their earnings the way film producers do by announcing the gross
and net collections of their released films on huge hoardings and
newspaper advertisements. Therefore, in an industry where stars and
their chartered accountants are the only ones who know their exact
income, the grapevine and industry talk are the only sources of
information about star earnings, star prices etc. But these are tried
and tested reference points.
Specalists' fees
Directors' Cut
With
star prices touching the sky, directors also started demanding fat
salaries at the turn of the new century. Highly-paid directors include
Raj Kumar Hirani, Rohit Shetty, Anees Bazmee, Farah Khan, Imtiaz Ali,
Rajkumar Santoshi, Prabhu Deva, Sajid Khan and the like.
Of
these, top ones like Hirani ask for a share in profits so that their fee
could go up to R20 crore per film, or more! Some of the other
above-named directors charge between R3 crore and R10 crore per film.
Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Rakesh Roshan and Sooraj
Barjatya could be among the highest paid filmmakers of Bollywood but if
they aren't, it is because they only direct films for their own banners,
not for outsiders. Years ago, when there was a crazy boom in
production, Anees Bazmee was rumoured to have signed a film for a
business house for R20 crore, besides a share in profits! Of course, the
film never got made because the boom did not last.
Bring on the money: it's in the script
Years
back, writing duo Salim-Javed's names used to adorn the hoardings of
films after they gave hits such as Zanjeer, Yaadon Ki Baaraat and Haath
Ki Safai, all in one year (1973). Almost 40 years later, the tribe of
writers felt short-changed. But things are changing for the better. So
impressed was Aamir Khan with the script of Talaash when he heard it
that he decided to pay 3 per cent of the profit of Talaash to Reema
Kagti as her fee for direction and 2 per cent of the profits as
remuneration to Reema and Zoya for penning the script. It is anybody's
guess that the 2 per cent in the case of Talaash will work out to at
least Rs 1 crore i.e. Rs 50 lakh to Reema and Zoya each. This, as against the earlier decided fee of Rs 5 lakh each.
If
it was Salim-Javed who made the industry realise the importance of
writers, it's now Kagti and Javed's daughter, Zoya, who've brought their
contribution into focus once again.
Ruling the charts, note for note
Not
just stars but technicians have also hiked their rates over the last
decade. Among composers, only A R Rahman gets paid as a percentage of
the price his music gets sold for. That way, he gets around Rs 2-4 crore per film. Other composers charge between Rs 30 and Rs 60 lakh. The way it works for a top music composer is this: he charges around Rs 10-20 lakh per song; if there are six songs, he gets paid Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1.2
crore. After paying off the expenses of recording, including fees of
singers, lyricists, charges of the recording room etc., the composer is
generally left with Rs 30-60 lakh. Among
lyricists, Javed Akhtar is perhaps the highest paid (Rs 3 lakh per
song), followed by Gulzar (Rs 2 lakh). Other renowned song writers
charge anything ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 per song. Even action directors, who were paid moderately, nowadays demand Rs 30-40 lakh per film. If the action scenes are too many and too stylish, the action master's pay packet could even go up to Rs 75 lakh.
Small screen, big bucks
Star TV Show Payment/episode
Salman Khan Dus Ka Dum Rs 1-1.25 cr
Shah Rukh Khan Kaun Banega Crorepati Rs 1.0 cr
Amitabh Bachchan Kaun Banega Crorepati Rs 0.75-1 cr
Hrithik Roshan Just Dance Rs 0.75-0.8 cr
Akshay Kumar Khatron Ke Khiladi, Master Chef Rs 0.7-0.8 cr
Priyanka Chopra Khatron Ke Khiladi Rs 0.3-0.4 cr
Madhuri Dixit Jhalak Dikhla Ja Rs 0.1-0.2 cr
Farah Khan, Rohit Shetty For judging TV shows Rs 0.1-0.2 cr
Komal Nahta is a trade analyst and the editor of Film Information
From HT Brunch, April 8
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