The way Bollywood stars are getting paid for films appears to be changing. Several big actors are now reportedly choosing deals that give them a share in a film instead of taking a large fee upfront.
This
has also raised questions around Shraddha Kapoor’s reported remuneration for her next project.
Shraddha is reportedly set to play Madhuri Jain Grover, the wife of Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover, in an upcoming biopic. Reports have claimed that she is being offered around Rs 20 crore for the film. However, she may now choose to become one of the producers instead and take a stake in the film’s intellectual property rights (IPR), according to Free Press Journal.
The film is being written and directed by entrepreneur-screenwriter Rahul Mody, who is also reportedly Shraddha’s beau.
Under a backend deal like this, an actor takes a smaller fee at the start but gets a share in the film’s IPR or profits. If the film does well, the actor can earn more from the project.
Akshay Kumar is one of the stars who has reportedly followed this model. According to FPJ, he took ₹1.8 crore for Welcome to the Jungle. When a journalist asked him about the reported fee during a promotional event, Akshay jokingly said, “Why ₹1.8 cr? I’ve taken only ₹1, as my fee.”
Trade experts reportedly said that Akshay also helped arrange the film’s financing and the sale of its ancillary rights, including OTT, satellite and audio rights. He is said to have kept a 72 per cent stake, while his home banner allegedly had another 8 per cent and the producer had 20 per cent.
With Welcome to the Jungle doing good business at the box office, Akshay reportedly earned more than ₹35 crore through his share in the project, apart from his initial fee.
Other top Bollywood stars are also reportedly considering similar deals. Salman Khan’s reported ₹70 crore fee has been debated, while actors such as Salman, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar have been linked to arrangements involving lower upfront fees and a share in the IPR.
Coming back to Shraddha, she is reportedly being paid between ₹12 crore and ₹15 crore for Eetha. She was also reported to be getting around ₹20 crore as her acting fee for her next film, which is said to be the Ashneer Grover biopic.
If the latest reports are true, Shraddha could instead take a producer credit and receive a stake in the film’s IPR. This would allow her to benefit from the film’s performance rather than taking the entire reported amount as an upfront fee.
The reports, however, have not been officially confirmed.
