For ages now we’ve heard about the fat paychecks Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and others get for starring in mainstream Bollywood films. Seldom do we come to know how much the film’s actresses get paid. It is a known fact that almost all female stars get paid much lesser than their male counterparts, now a new list of how much an actress gets paid is out.
Reportedly Deepika Padukone, the biggest female star of the country, charges around Rs 15-20 crore per film, whereas second on the list is Alia Bhatt, who charges Rs 15 crore per film, as per Bollywood Hungama. Deepika was last seen in Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD and is now on a maternity break. Alia, on the other hand, was last seen in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and Heart of Stone with Gal Gadot. She’ll next be seen in Jigra, YRF spy universe film Alpha and Sanjay leela Bhansali’s most awaited Love And War with Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal.
Kareena Kapoor Khan, whose Crew with Tabu and Kriti Sanon was a sleeper hit at the box office, is next on the highest paid actresses’ list. Bebo is known to charge Rs 8-11 crore per project. Her upcoming film is Hansal Mehta’s The Buckingham Murders with no male co-star.
Katrina Kaif and Shraddha Kapoor take the fourth and fifth positions, with Katrina charging anything around Rs 8-10 crore. She is also known to have been paid more than her male co-stars in films like Phone Bhoot and Merry Christmas, where she shared the screen with Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi.
Kriti Sanon, Kiara Advani, Kangana Ranaut and Taapsee Pannu are known to charge between Rs 5 and 8 crore per film. Kriti’s stalks are now getting higher as she has given back-to-back hits and also because she’s receiving critical appreciations for her performance in films like Mimi and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya.
Kiara is referred to “lucky charm” due to her consistent track record and her fees are now more than what it was two years ago. Taapsee and Kangana Ranaut, both critically acclaimed actors, are known to lead their films and continue to be in the same league.
However, the remuneration of actresses is not fixed as their salaries depend on various factors and changes from project to project. For mainstream films with a large star cast, the actress might drop her fees. However, for solo-led films, the actresses get paid more. A film producer told the publication, “If the cost of production in a female solo project is just Rs 20-25 crores, he won’t mind paying the actress Rs 5 or even 7 crores. She might be charging less for a usual mainstream film with a male lead actor. But since the budget is low in her female-centric film and she’s shouldering the project, she can be paid more.”
