Anand Pandit explains the fee structure of Bollywood superstars: ‘In a country of 140 crore, only 10 actors are sellable'

Indian Express

22-05-2025

In the last couple of years, Bollywood has been questioned in terms of star fees, their entourage and lack of original content. These topics often made headlines with stars charging in crores, producers complaining about their expensive entourage and writers crying for basic pay leading to content crisis. Amid all these discussions, real estate developer and producer Anand Pandit explained the structure of fees of these stars and the lack of originality in the industry despite repeated box office debacles. 'A star's fees should be linked to the money a film collects in its first weekend,' said Anand Pandit in an exclusive interview with SCREEN.
When Shah Rukh Khan made a comeback with Jawan in 2023, it was reported that the actor charged somewhere between Rs 150 crore to Rs 250 crore for the film. Similarly, it was speculated that actor Allu Arjun was paid Rs 300 crore for his film Pushpa 2. When Laal Singh Chadha flopped, Aamir Khan made headlines for reportedly charging between Rs 100 crore to Rs 275 crore for the film (He, however, later claimed he was never paid a penny for the film after it didn't work at the box office). These reports sparked debates around stars blindly charging fees for their work while supporting actors struggling for bear minimum.
Previously, in a report by Indian Express, it was found out that while these stars were paid in crores, an actor in supporting cast role was offered Rs 6,000 for a day's job. Films like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was all over the news for spending over Rs 400 crore in the making of the film. It collected Rs 111 crore.
Anand Pandit shared how it is a task to be a producer in today's time.
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'We have started spending money on the look of the film and stars of the film rather than spending money on writers. There was a time when films sold solely because they were written by Salim-Javed. They had their names on the hoarding boards. Today, we never see any writer's name anywhere. We will have to put a lot of money on writers. We will have to go back to that era where we can give importance to these writers so that the original content returns.'
With films like Laal Singh Chaddha (a remake of Forrest Gump), and Baby John (a remake of Tamil film Theri) miserably failing at the box office, Anand Pandit said Bollywood is only focusing on producing content inspired by Korean, Spanish and South Indian films. 'People are not liking these remakes. If we put more efforts on writers and pay them better, I think things will get better.'
The producer also discussed the fee structure of these stars and claimed there is a need of change in the system of paying actors.
'When it comes to fees of these stars, we all know that in a country with a population of over 140 crore people, there are only about ten of them who are sellable. So they are commanding their own prices. It is always a demand and supply. I won't comment on that they exorbitantly charging. If you afford them and if you think your film can make money after paying them. You go with them. But, I do believe that we should create a system where if a star charges an 'x' amount, he should be responsible upto certain extent to bring that much money back to the producer on the opening day or weekend. His fees should be linked depending on the film's first weekend collection. It will make actors more responsible.'
When asked how are these fees decided. Anand shared, 'Based on your story and vision, you have this set of actors who you think will fit in the story. Then comes budget. We decide the scale of the film and the budget needed for that. If your budget exceeds then you eliminate some actors who may not fit within the budget. And eventually you reach out to those actors and try to negotiate with them.'
He added, 'It is always demand and supply. If the actor is willing to work with your production house or director, or story, he will definitely discount his price or he will give some kind of concession on his price. This is how the fees is decided.'
In between there were also reports that suggested that big names like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan work on the profit sharing model where they charge a certain percent of their fees and increase their share in the profit sharing margin.
Anand confirmed the news and explained, 'There is generally a minimum fee set for actors. Plus profit margin or share in the project. I am not sure who is already on that model but I have heard, and cannot disclose it because of the secrecy. But yes, there are bigger stars who have adopted this model. It is a very wise thing.'
Talking to CNBC-TV, Siddharth Roy Kapur shared that the current trend involves a two-part compensation model. 'A fixed fee built into the project's cost and a share in the profits. By lowering the upfront fee, the overall budget becomes more manageable. This is becoming common in the industry.'
Jyothi Jha works as a Copy Editor at the Indian Express. She brings in more than 5 years of experience where she has covered Entertainment majorly for TV9, NDTV and Republic Media. Apart from Entertainment, she has been an anchor, copy editor and managed production team under the Politics and Daily News segment. She's passionate about Journalism and it has always been her first choice, she believes in what George Orwell had once said, " Journalism is printing what someone else does not want you to do, rest everything is public relations". ... Read More