Shining Stars of South Film Industry
India has a massive film industry divided into different parts according to their regions, and the Bollywood film industry is one of the biggest in the world. Still, the South film industry is not less than the North film industry, and it has a lot of talented stars and brilliant entertainers.
They have been a part of many big films, and since the last few years, south movies are also very much recognized in the Northern region, like Bahubali, Saaho and now Pushpa. It has created a craze in the audience, and it is trending on Instagram as well.
Rajnikant, one of the best actors in India, is from the southern part of India and is treated like a god in that region. South film industry has four languages, and all four have magnificent stars who shake the box office with the release of their film.
These stars take huge remuneration for each film, and here are the highest-paid actors from the South film industry who are making their identity in the nation with their movies and acting.
Rajnikant
Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, widely recognized as Rajnikant, is one of the legendary Indian actors who mainly works in the Tamil film industry. He was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, on December 12, 1950. He is also known as Thalaiva, Style Mannan, etc.
His journey in the cinema industry started in the year 1975 from a Tamil drama named Apoorva Raagangal by K. Balachander, and he was one of the antagonist characters. Next, he got the chance for playing the role of crime boss in Baasha, directed by Suresh Krissa; through this film, he earned the ‘God-like’ status in Tamil Nadu, and that was a significant time of his life, and it was just a starting of his successful acting career.
Rajnikant is a part of the film Robot, Ethiran and sequel 2.0, which is the most expensive production movie at the time of their release & is one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.
The style and dialogue he uses are known for their uniqueness. The actor has a huge fan base and is one of the legendary actors in the history of Indian cinema. The journey has not been easy. At a time, he used to do multiple jobs to survive as he worked as a bus conductor a coolie, and along with that, he started acting but became an unforgettable name in the film industry.
He has won many awards like Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2020, Padma Vibhushan in 2016, Padma Bhushan in 2000, NTR National Award, Kalaimamani and many more. Rajnikanth has worked in movies including Annaatthe, Bombat Robo, Darbar, 2.0, Sivaji, Kabali, Kaala, Petta, Baasha and many more. He charges around Rs 100 crores per movie and is one of the highest-paid in the industry.
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Vishwanathan, widely recognized as Mohanlal, is an actor, singer, producer, film distributor and television host. He is one of the well-known personalities from the Malayalam film industry, and he has also appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films.
The actor has been in the industry for over four decades and has done more than 340 films. His contribution to the Malayalam cinema industry can’t be paid off. Mohanlal Vishwanathan was born in Elanthoor, Kerala, on May 21, 1960. He started his journey in 1978 with the Malayalam film Thiranottam in 1978, but his screen debut was in the year 1980 with the romantic movie Manjil Virinja Pookkal.
A crime drama called Rajavinte Makan, released in 1986, heightened his success, and the story begins. The actor prefers to stay in Malayalam movies, but he has also appeared in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. He has done movies like Lucifer, Aaraattu, Marakkar, Drishyam, Drishyam 2, Odiyan, Pulimurugan, Policewala Gunda 2, Mohanlal, Kaappaan and many more.
In 2019, he was honored with the Padma Bhushan award, Padma Shri in 2001, Lieutenant Colonel honorary in 2009, 5 National Film Awards for Best Feature Film, Best Actor, Special Jury Mention etc. He charges around Rs 64 crores per movie.
Prabhas
The Baahubali actor Prabhas was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on October 23, 1979, as Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju. He is one of the prominent actors in the Telugu cinema industry. He started his journey in the year 2002 with a Telugu drama named Eeswar and got a different identity in 2004 with the action movie Varsham.
He has worked in many films like Mr Perfect, Billa, Darling, Bujjigadu, Chatrapathi, and is the lead actor of the epic movie Baahubali by S S Rajamouli, which is one of the highest-grossing movies in the country and it became the first Indian movie to cross Rs 1000 crores ever, and till date, it remains the 2nd highest-grossing
movie.
Prabhas is the first actor from South Film Industry whose wax statue is installed at Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. He has also been featured in Forbes India celebrity 100 lists considerably since 2015, and he has won 7 Filmfare awards and was also nominated as Nandi Award & SIIMA award. Earlier, they charged Rs 7 crores for movies, but after the massive success of Baahubali, he set around Rs 80 crores to Rs 85 crores per film.
Pawan Kalyan
Konidela Kalyan Babu, known as Pawan Kalyan, is one of the known actors from the Telugu cinema industry. Apart from being an actor, he is a director, stunt coordinator, screenwriter, philanthropist and politician. The actor is the younger brother of actor Chiranjeevi.
Pawan Kalyan was born in Bapatia, Andhra Pradesh, on September 2, 1968. The first role he acted in was Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi in 1996. He has worked in many movies like Tholi Prema (which earned him Nandi Awards and National Award), Kushi, Gokulamlo Seeta, Suswagatham, Gopala Gopala.
He charges around Rs 60 crores per movie, and the actor also joined a political party named Jana Sena Party. He has produced works under Pawan Kalyan Creative Works, Anjana Productions.
Mahesh Babu
Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu is a prominent actor from the Telugu cinema industry. Apart from being an actor, he is a producer, philanthropist and media personality. He was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu, on August 9, 1975. He is the son of Krishna, a veteran Telugu actor.
Mahesh Babu started his acting journey as a child artist in the movie Needa in 1979 at the early age of 4, and he has acted in around eight films as a child artist. His debut as a male lead actor was with the 1999 film Rajakumarudu, for which he won a Nandi award for best debut actor.
Later he got his breakthrough with the film Murari in 2001 & Okkadu in 2003. He has worked in many movies like Pokiri, Athadu, Dookudu, Srimanthudu, Maharshi, Bharat Ane Nenu, Sarileru Neekevvaru. Pokiri is the highest-grossing movie.
Mahesh Babu is also referred to as the Prince of Tollywood and is one of the most influential and famous Telugu cinema industries. He is also associated with the charitable trust and NGO Heal–a–Child and Rainbow Hospitals as a goodwill ambassador.
The actor is the recipient of 8 Nandi Awards, 3 CineMAA Awards, 5 Filmfare South Awards, SIIMA Awards, IIFA Utsavam Awards and many more. He charges a whopping amount of Rs 45 crores per movie. Currently, he is working on his upcoming projects like Sarakaru Vaari Paata, and soon he will start shooting for Rajamouli and Trivikram.
NTR Junior
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr., widely recognized as NTR Junior or Tarak, is one of the superstars from the Telugu cinema industry. Apart from being an actor, he is a singer and television presenter. He was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, on May 20, 1983. He is the grandson of N T Rama Rao, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
NTR Junior also played the lead role of being a child artist in Ramayana in 1996, and for that, he won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film. He got another breakthrough in 2001 in Ninnu Choodalani as a lead actor and began his journey of success with the movie Student no. 1 in 2001. He has worked in movies like Rakhi, Aadi, Simhadri, Yamadonga, Nannaku Prematho, Adhurs, Jai Lava Kusa, Janatha Garage, etc.
He also hosted the first season of the television reality show Big Boss Telugu in 2017 and is one notable television host. He has worked in around 32 films and six series, and he has won many awards like Nandi Awards, CineMAA Awards, FNCC Awards, etc. He also faced failures in his acting career where his films like Ashok, Narasimbhu, Naa Alludu faced losses, but he bounced back. In the movie Rakhi, he came up with one of the most satisfactory acting performances in his career and now his work with S S Rajamouli with Rama Charan for RRR is one of the awaited and big-budget films. He charges around Rs 60 to Rs 70 crores per movie.
Yash
His stage name knows actor Yash, but his hardcore knows him with Naveen Kumar Gowda’s original name. He is an Indian actor from the Kannada cinema industry, and in that, he is one of the highest-paid & successful actors. He was born in Bhuvanahalli, Karnataka, on January 8, 1986.
Yash made his debut with the movie Moggina Manasu in 2008, started his journey of success, and lined up many commercially successful films. He has worked in many movies, including Googly, Karnataka, Modalasala, Drama, Rajdhani, Mr and Mrs Khiladi, Straight Forward, Masterpiece and the epic K G F Chapter 1, which was released in the year 2018. He gained a lot of popularity after his movie KGF.
Next, he will see the sequel film KGF Chapter 2, which will be released in 2022. He is one of the most influential personalities in Kannada film actors. His journey was not so easy. He belongs to an average family where his father was a driver, his mother was a housekeeper, and later, he joined the drama troupe.
He started his television career in the year 2004 with a television series named Nanda Gokula, which was directed by Ashok Kashyap & was aired on ETV Kannada. Later, he got the opportunity into the movies and proved himself. He has won many awards like Filmfare Awards, SIIMA Awards, IIFA Awards, etc., for the best actor, best male playback singer, best performance and many more. The actor charges around Rs 20 crores per movie.
Ajith
Ajith Kumar is one of the prominent actors in the Tamil cinema industry, and he has worked in more than 60 films in the Tamil language. Apart from being an actor, he is also a motor car racer, and he has also participated in the MRF Racing series in the year 2010. He was born in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, on May 1, 1971. He is also known as Thala Ajith by his fans.
He started his acting career in 1990 with a small role in a Tamil movie En Veedu En kanavar. Still, he later established himself as a romantic hero with the film Kadhal Kottai in 1996 and later as an action hero in Amarkalam in 1999. He has worked in many movies, including Vaali, Jagamalla, Veeram The Powerman, Billa 2, Mankatha, Vivegam, Jigarwala, Vallee, Aasai and many more.
Ajith has won many awards like Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Cinema Express Awards, Government Honorary Awards, South Indian International Movie Awards, Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, Dinakaran Cinema Awards, etc. He is recently seen in the movie Valimai, and the actor charges around Rs 35 crores per movie.
Vijay
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar is known by his stage name Vijay. He is a well-known actor from the Tamil cinema industry, and apart from being an actor, he is a playback singer, dancer, and philanthropist. He has also appeared in some movies in other languages. Vijay has been listed on the Forbes India celebrity 100 list several times. He is one of the actors whose film always remains on demand.
He was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu, on June 22, 1974. At the age of ten, he started his acting journey with his first role in a drama named Vetri in 1984, and for four years, he has worked as a child artist. In the year 1966, he got his first blockbuster called Poove Unakkaga. He has worked in many films like Sarkar, Indian Soldier Never On Holiday, Theri, Master, Mersal, Bigil, Thalaivaa, Nanban, Ghilli, etc. The actor charges around Rs 30- Rs 32 crores per movie.
These are the highest-paid actors from the South India Film Industry and have given many blockbusters to the nation.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
