Akshay Kumar slashes his fees for Pooja Entertainment’s Bell Bottom

Starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role, Bell Bottom is one of the most-awaited films of 2021. The makers started shooting for the big-ticket production in 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and wrapped it up in a record time.

If reports are to be believed, Kumar had signed Bell Bottom for a whopping amount of approximately £11,327,629. Right after completing the espionage thriller, he increased his remuneration to £13,070,341 for the entire slate of his upcoming films in 2022, except for Bachchan Pandey. The actor reportedly charged approximately £9,589,549 for Bachchan Pandey as producer Sajid Nadiadwala is his childhood friend.

The latest we hear that there has been a huge revision in Kumar’s fees for Bell Bottom. “Bell Bottom was supposed to release in the month of April. However, due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the release has been deferred. The delay was not accounted for and also resulted in a spike in the budget of Bell Bottom. Being primarily a film that caters to the tier 1 and 2 cities, Vashu Bhagnani wanted to keep the budget in check and hence, he requested his leading man, Akshay to scale down his acting fees by Rs. 30 crores (approximately £2,905,427), as the rise in budget aside, there looms a lot of uncertainty on the release too. If theatrical, it is a given that the film would not earn what it would have in a normal scenario,” a trade source tells an entertainment portal.

The source goes on to add, “Akshay knows the on-ground scenario and does not want to put a lot of burden on the film. He has graciously agreed on reducing his acting fees by Rs. 30 crores (approximately £2,905,427). However, the catch here is, if the film earns huge returns, he will be reimbursed for the discount given at the moment. Nonetheless, if the film does not overperform at the box office, his fees would stand in the range of Rs. 85 to 90 crores (approximately £8,231,941 to 8,716,173), as it stands presently.”

Directed by Ranjit M Tiwari, Bell Bottom also stars Vaani Kapoor, Huma Qureshi and Lara Dutta in lead roles.