Akshay Kumar increases acting fees for films set to arrive in 2022?

By: Mohnish Singh

There is no denying the fact that Akshay Kumar is one of the most commercially successful actors working in Bollywood today. His presence in a film ensures a great opening at the box-office. If we take a look at his track record in the past few years, he has hardly disappointed audiences as all his films managed to set the ticket window on fire.

The latest we hear that the superstar has decided to increase his acting fees because of his huge demand in the market. “Over the last few months in the lockdown, Akshay Kumar has gradually hiked his fees from ₹99 crores (990 million) to ₹108 crores (1080 million) and finally settled in on ₹117 (1170 million) crores for the films he signed recently. Every producer wants to have Akshay on board, considering his low risk, low budget, and assured return model, leading to excessive demand in the market. Akshay too has followed the economic formula of higher the demand, higher the price, as with every film offer coming his way, he hiked his fees. For the films which are slated for a 2022 release, Akshay will charge a bomb of ₹135 crores (1350) per film,” informs a source close to the actor.

The source goes on to add, “The production budget of most Akshay Kumar films will be in the range of ₹35 (350 million) to ₹45 crores (450 million), in addition to ₹15 crores (150 million) more for print and publicity, taking the total in the range of ₹50 (500 million) to ₹60 crores (600 million). Taking the number of his acting fees into account, the overall budget of his films would be in the range of ₹185 (1850 million) to ₹195 crores (1950 million). Doing a backward calculation in the account, his films earn approximately ₹80 (800 million) to ₹90 crores (900 million) from the sale of satellite and digital, whereas ₹10 crores (100 million) more comes from the sale of music rights, leaving an amount in the range of ₹95 (950 million) to ₹100 crores (1000 million) for recovery from theatres, meaning lifetime box-office collections of ₹210-220 crores (2100-2200 million) in India. This is not as big a number for him to achieve, given his stardom and trust among the audience. And in 2021, it’s a rather easy number for a superstar like Akshay.”

Kumar’s upcoming films include Sooryavanshi, Bell Bottom, Prithviraj, Bachchan Pandey, Atrangi Re, Raksha Bandhan, and Ram Setu.