Tollywood’s remuneration scene is skyrocketing, with senior actors and directors demanding massive fees.
Nandamuri Balakrishna reportedly commands over Rs 30 crore (until Akhanda he was given only Rs 10 Cr and the makers used to get profits), while Megastar Chiranjeevi tops the chart with Rs 75 crore.
Dhanush charges Rs 50 crore, Sivakarthikeyan and Nani each earn Rs 30 crore, Ravi Teja gets Rs 25 crore, Siddu Jonnalagadda Rs 15 crore, and Vishwak Sen Rs 6 crore.
Srivishnu, Sharwanand, Kalyan Ram, and Sundeep Kishan range between Rs 3–10 crore. And a minimum paycheck for any known hero is around Rs 2–3 crore.
Directors follow a similar pattern. While top names earn more, rising directors like Anil Ravipudi (Rs 25 crore), Bobby, and Gopichand Malineni (Rs 15 crore) are not far behind.
Chandu Mondeti charges Rs 10 crore. For newcomers, one hit yields Rs 3 crore, two hits Rs 5 crore, and three consecutive hits can lead to Rs 10 crore.
However, many of these remunerations aren’t backed by box office returns.
Films like Dil Ruba (made at Rs 16 crore), Laila (made at Rs 25 crore), Majaka (Rs 25 crore), Jack (Rs 40 crore) and Arjun S/O Vyjayanthi (40 crore) have failed to sell. Producers continue investing in flopping stars, driven by urgency rather than logic.
With inflated costs and little market return, industry is struggling. It is all the decision of producers based on blind trust and gambling mindset that is running the industry making the heroes rich and richer for no reason.
But instead of taking responsibility, they blame audience tastes or critics' reviews for their failures — crying foul when things don’t work out.
Producers need to cure this chronic obsession with overpaying heroes and inflating production budgets, only to later complain about losses. It’s a cycle of self-inflicted damage.