Imran Khan has revealed that he was paid in multiple crores for playing Jai in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. However, his highest paycheck was for Rs 12 crore for a film he didn’t name. He also revealed that when
he hosted the Filmfare Awards with Ranbir Kapoor, he received a sum of Rs 50 lakh. Imran Khan also revealed that he was offered a gold iPhone to inaugurate a store in Dubai.
Speaking on the Unfiltered by Samdish podcast, Imran Khan said, “When my first film was released and became a hit, I went from being paid almost nothing to being paid multiple crores. At 25, suddenly you’re being paid Rs 7-10 crore.” He said he was paid Rs 5 lakh for Kidnap and the makers didn’t even want to cast him.
As such, it was difficult for him to comprehend the jump in numbers in only a few years. The actor said, “By the time Jaane Tu released, I had already done three films. I suddenly thought to myself, ‘Did my acting grow so much from my previous film?’” He revealed that his highest paycheck for a film was for Rs 12 crore.
Imran also recalled his remuneration for hosting the Filmfare Awards with Ranbir Kapoor. He said, “I don’t remember exactly, but speculatively, I can say maybe around Rs 50 lakh. It’s not bad money. If you really consider the scale at which a leading actor earns in comparison to all other actors and all the other non-actors on set with all the recent films, there will come a moment where they will all sit and say ‘Hang on!’”
He said, “They will then analyse the whole thing, and somewhere in the mathematics and algebra, they will say, ‘This is not making sense.’ It doesn’t make sense to pay one person so much.” As for A-list actors’ fees today, Imran said, “If you’re an A-lister in theatrical films today, you’re not earning less than Rs 30 crore per film. Anyone my age—Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor—I would be surprised if any of them are earning less than that.”
He also recalled an incident in Dubai involving a gold iPhone and said, “This one time I was in Dubai for a promotional event. I kept on doing interviews the whole time. By evening, I was extremely tired. And the next day, I am supposed to catch a flight to London. I was preparing to sleep when my manager came to me and said, ‘Sir, in this mall, there is an opening of a jewellery shop. If you do the ribbon-cutting ceremony, they will give you a gold iPhone. I said, ‘No, thank you. You keep the gold iPhone, I need a hot shower, I want a drink and a good night’s sleep.”
