Varun Dhawan's new price: Rs 25 crore

Varun Dhawan’s last box office juggernaut has helped him hike his salary. Judwaa 2 is expected to cross the Rs 100 crore figure by the second weekend, and Varun has now raised his fees manifold.

Sources in the trade say that the Badlapur actor will now be billing his producers a cool Rs 25 crore as his fees. This makes him the seventh biggest male star in Bollywood after the Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn.

A trade source says “Akshay Kumar has worked out a different way of charging money. He charges Rs 20 crore as his fees, but ends up taking 80 per cent of the profits. Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir come on board as producers as well for their films, so the figure automatically is higher. Ajay charges Rs 40 crore per film because of his Rs 400 crore Star TV deal for the satellite rights of his movies. Hrithik charges upwards of Rs 30 crore per film.”

Trade analyst Atul Mohan says that Varun has a lot going in his favour. “He does not do things beyond what his abilities are and at the same time is immensely likeable. That is one reason why the growth is not really surprising. More importantly, he comes from a film family and is the son of one of the most successful commercial directors in Bollywood. Hence, the advice given to him is mostly right,” he asserts.

Atul also adds that Varun’s choice of films has contributed a lot to his growth. The only off-beat film Varun went for in his career was Badlapur and even that film made money. “The two films in the Dulhania series for Karan Johar have also helped Varun, and he is trying to maintain that image for his films,” he maintains.

— Sanskriti Media