He’s a mid-range hero. Not many hits. No back-to-back releases. Just one or two films in the making. At such a time, a new project came into discussion. A director referred him, and a producer agreed to take it forward.
Naturally, once the project is set, commercial discussions begin. And that’s when the real shock came out; the hero demanded ₹18 crore remuneration.
The producer was stunned. Just hearing “18 crores as my fee” left him speechless. He had calculated that the entire film could be made within ₹30 crore.
If the theatrical business fetched around ₹10 crore and non-theatrical another ₹15 crore, he expected a remaining risk of around ₹5 crore. But when the hero alone asked for ₹18 crore, he immediately dropped the project.
Many actors lack ground reality. Some are only now beginning to understand. Slowly, a few heroes are switching to partnership models; taking part of the payment and the rest as profit-share.
A young hero with an upcoming release reportedly took two distribution areas plus partial payment instead of full remuneration. Another Sankranti-release hero is working completely on profit-sharing.
With things going this way, how can a hero with no solid hits or strong lineup demand ₹18 crore?
