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Bollywood star prices seem a laugh as you travel down South where, without fuss and headlines, Tamil star Rajnikanth has become India's highest paid actor. He is paid more than the Khans or even the Big B With each new film Rajnikanth breaks his own record as India's highest paid actor. He is getting Rs 16 crore for his next film Sivaji That is about Rs 6 crore more than what he got for his last film Chandramukhi. The math is mind boggling for outsiders. Bollywood's biggies like Aamir, Shah Rukh, and Salman don't earn more than Rs 7 crore each for a film. And their films are distributed around the country. But those who produce Rajni's films say Tamil Nadu's ageing superstar is worth the price. Chandramukhi, Rajni's last film, earned Rs 50 crore at the box office, which is a record in Tamil Nadu. "We make enough money on a Rajni film. So much so that we can make another film. So we don't have any problems paying him this much," said Ram Kumar Ganeshan, Producer, Chandramukhi. At 56, it is a record-breaking run that seems to be unchecked. Except four years ago, the film Baba, which by Rajni standards was a flop. It earned only Rs 20 crore. Signature style Rajni bounced back with Chandramukhi but decided he would cut down on the number of films. What he won't change, though, is the signature Rajni style. Shivaji is being directed by Shankar , who is Tamil Nadu's hottest director. But it's clear who will be calling the shots. "Rajni is always afraid whether the director should be able to present him in the way the masses like him. So Rajnikant himself controls the script and directs the film to a large extent," said Sreedhar Pillai, a film critic. When it comes to movies Rajnikanth works only with the biggest and the best in the business. "When we sign him on, we are able to cover all expenses. When I met Rajnikanth, I gave him Rs 1,001 as advance. I said I will pay your salary in a few days and he said he will take his payments later after the film's completed," said A V M Saravanan, Producer, Sivaji. One of the reasons for Rajni's skyrocketing rates is that he is Tamil cinema's lone superstar after MGR, while four to five big heroes rule Bollywood. Realities that even his co-actors accept. "Finally Rajnikant stands on top. In the film, Jyothika's done a great job. I had a good role. Vidyasagar gave very good music. But finally it was a Rajni starrer. We were all there, but it was a success because Rajni was there. You need a Rajni for that," said Prabhu, Co-star, Chandramukhi. source:NDTV Related StoriesWho-deserves-the-highest-pay-cheque- And the highest paid actor should be... With Hrithik Roshan bagging a Rs 35 crore deal with Adlabs Films, After Hours asks readers who they think deserves to be the highest paid star in Bollywood. YOU SAY... Shah Rukh Khan should be the highest paid actor. He has the skills, charisma and superstardom to deserve the money. Kavita R, engineering student My choice would be Aishwarya Rai. Firstly, she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. Secondly, she’s a rage on the international circuit. Piyush Whanmane, call-centre employee Only Amitabh Bachchan deserves crores as his fees. It is surprising that he charges less than many of the self-proclaimed superstars. Ravi Shekhar, marketing man more Costly-Meera  Meera Jasmine has become the highest paid actress in Malayalam films! Last week the demure actress signed a record deal, for Rs 15 lakhs to be Dileep’s heroine in noted director Blessy’s Kolkatta News! It is the highest ever paid to an actress of Malayalee origin, as earlier I.V Sasi and producer ‘Liberty’ Basheer paid Rs 20 lakhs to Katrina Kaif to be Mammootty’s heroine in Balram Vs Taradas. The second highest paid heroine is Gopika (Rs 6 lakhs), followed by Kavya Madhavan (Rs 5 lakhs), Padmapriya, Vimala Ram more Rajnikanth-cherishes-a-Rs-10-note-given-by-a-woman-the-most  He might have earned millions for essaying various roles in reel life, but Tamil superstar Rajinikanth cherishes most a Rs 10 note that a disguise in real life fetched him recently. The superstar, who visited a temple in Bangalore in the guise of a humble old man, was mistaken for a beggar by a woman, who gave him Rs 10. This amusing anecdote has been mentioned in the actor's recently-released biography 'The Name is Rajinikanth,' authored by city-based ophthalmologist Gayathri Sreekanth. more Brahmanandam-Highest-Paid-Comedian  Brahmanandam is now reportedly the highest paid comedy actor in Tollywood. He is featured in almost all films and is much in demand. His presence guarantees laughter in any film and he is much loved among the Telugu audience. The busy actor is reportedly cashing in on his popularity. It makes sense to make hay while the sun is shining. And Brahmanandam seems to have digested this fact very well. He is demanding a very high fee and getting away with it. He is even reported to be asking the producers f more -Rajni-in-fourth-place!-  Superstar Rajnikanth’s popularity graph seems to be falling drastically. In what could be a big shock for all Rajnikanth fans, the superstar has fallen down in popularity ratings. A survey conducted by a media group in Chennai shows that the late MG Ramachandran polled the highest votes in popularity rankings and he stands first. Sivaji Ganeshan came second while Vijay stood in the third position. Rajnikanth had to be satisfied with just the fourth spot. In a related survey a majority of Rajnikan more Ileana-to-be-honoured  The sexy hour glass figure from Goa, Ileana is one of the highest paid actresses in south India. Ileana has now been signed up for as many as five films and they all will hit the screens in 2009. The organizers of the annual Film Festival of India have invited Ileana as the chief guest for this year’s event in Goa. She will be seated on the stage and she will also be felicitated for brining laurels to Goa with her films. &nbs more Aishwarya-paid-whopping-4-Crores  Now it can be told. The star-price wars has escalated to an all-time high. With Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan carrying home a pay packet of Rs 4 crores for her proposed stint as Rajnikanth's leading lady in Shankar's Robot, the lady has now become the highest-paid actress of Indian cinema. A source very close to Aishwarya says, "The media has got it all wrong. Ash has actually received twice the amount quoted in papers and on websites as her fee for Robot. Yes, it's close to Rs 4 crores. And more Rajnikanth-at-Puttaparthi  Superstar Rajnikanth arrived at Puttaparthi this evening. Rajnikanth is now busy meeting the officials of the Sri Sathya Sai Baba Trust. Rajnikanth learnt about the welfare activities being undertaken by the trust. It is understood that Rajnikanth is planning to make a huge donation to the trust. Rajnikanth will stay at Puttaparthi overnight. He will have darshan of Sai Baba tomorrow morning. & more AR-Rahman-gets-2-cr-for-Puli  Nowadays getting the dates of top stars is one of the main concerns of the director and producer of a film. Once he has bought the actors dates for whatever price it may be, he proceeds with the rest of the film. But actor director SJ Suryah is the first to give such importance to the music director first. One might think him to be crazy but all their criticism will stop once they hear that the music director in question is none other than AR Rahman. The price that the director paid is surely an industry fi more Rajni-as-Ravana! Superstar Rajnikanth will soon appear as the legendary Ravana in a new Mythological film. Prominent Bollywood director Raj Kumar Santoshi is planning to make a film on Ravana. Rajnikanth began his career playing villain roles. He later switched over to hero’s roles and is now the undisputed number one hero in south India. Rajnikanth went through the script and found it to be to his satisfaction. The character of Ravana has many negative shades. But for the first time, the director wants to portray the positive side of Ravana. There are many good qualities and in Ravana and they will be highlighted in the movie. It means we will get to see a good at heart Ravana in the film. Rajnikanth is busy more |
