Bollywood is the second most popular film industry in the world after Hollywood. Bollywood earns an enormous amount of money for everyone who works in the film industry.
Over the years, many of Bollywood’s highest-paid actors have taken to the stage demanding hefty sums for screen appearances. Just as big-budget films in Bollywood have become madness, so have the highest-paid actors in the industry become a kind of competition for the best actors.
Many popular Bollywood stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh and Tiger Shroff have certainly secured a place on the list of highest-paid Bollywood actors. No one can deny that Bollywood actors play an important role in making a film a hit and, to make one understand their importance, they charge fees for films based on their star status.
Today, we reveal the highest-paid actors in Bollywood in 2021:
1] Shah Rukh Khan
Shah Rukh Khan, the king of Bollywood, has completed more than 80 films and won 14 Filmfare Awards for Best Actor. Lately, some of his films have not performed well at the box office, but he still has a very high success rate. He is reportedly demanding 100 crores for his upcoming film Pathan, making him the highest-paid actor in Bollywood.
Shah Rukh Khan’s most famous films are Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Chak De India, My Name is Khan, among many others.
In 2004, Khan was ranked the seventh-best man in the world by People magazine in the US. In 2008, his lifelike wax statue was exhibited at Madame Tussauds Museum in London, and in 2012, a wax statue of him was exhibited at Madame Tussauds Museum in New York. Recently, Khan became the only actor to receive three consecutive films that netted more than Rs 2 billion ($28 million).
According to Forbes, Shah Rukh Khan earned $38 million in the year 2017.
2] Salman Khan
Salman Khan is a Bollywood actor belonging to a prominent Bollywood family. He is also one of Bollywood’s highest-paid actors. Critics judge an actor’s acting skills, but what he gets is a loyal fan base, and that is what matters. The fame, the fans, their luck in getting hit after hit – all these are the reasons and qualities have made him one of the highest-paid actors in Bollywood.
During his 30-year long career, Salman Khan has made a definitive name for himself, and is popularly called “Bhai” by his loyal supporters. Salman Khan appeared on the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid actors in 2019.
He made his Bollywood debut with the film Biwi Ho Aisi, which was released in 1988. He has also worked as an assistant director in many movies. Khan was the star in Sooraj R. Barjatya’s romantic family drama Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), one of the highest grossing Indian movies of all time. Some of his famous movies are Dabangg, Tiger Zinda Hai, Sultan, Kick Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Dabangg 3, etc.
Salman Khan is not far behind SRK, as he is second on the list with 37 million rupees.
3] Amir Khan
Aamir Khan, also known as Mr Perfection, is one of the highest-paid actors of the Bollywood film industry. Aamir is the only actor who doesn’t take a fee but gets a share of the film’s profits.
Aamir Khan is one of the 5 highest-paid Bollywood actors of 2021. The actor, who made his acting fortune with films such as PK, 3 Idiots and Dangal, earns 70-80 crore per film. Aamir Khan is probably the most influential actor in the Bollywood world. He appeared in his uncle’s films on the screen for the first time as a child actor.
Khan is popular not only in India but also in other countries for his films like Dangal.
4] Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar, whose real name is Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, is now one of Bollywood’s most popular and bankable stars. His films have grossed more than $500 million, the highest earnings of any star in the industry’s history. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Rustom.
Akshay’s Bollywood journey has been the talk of the town and although he initially delivered 11 back-to-back flops, he has worked hard and passionately throughout his career to secure a top spot on Bollywood’s list of highest-paid actors. He was one of the first Bollywood superstars to go OTT following the premier of his film Laxmii.
Akshay Kumar, Bollywood’s biggest superstar with the success of his films such as Airlift and Rustom. In the last 5-6 years or more, Akshay has released 3-4 films each year that feature on the top-grossing list.
Akshay Kumar had a poor start in Bollywood films and his debut film went unnoticed. His films, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Mohra, Elaan and Yeh Dillagi were Box Office successes. Since 2007, he has become one of the most popular and saleable male Bollywood actors. Akshay Kumar charges about 40 crores per film, which varies according to the film’s budget.
Some of the famous movies of Akshay Kumar are Rowdy Rathore, Airlift, Toilet Ek Prem Katha, Jolly LLB 2, Padman, Robot 2.0, Good News, etc.
5] Hritik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan is an Indian film actor who was born in Mumbai as a son in a film family. His father is the director Rakesh Roshan, and, his mother Pinky, is the daughter of producer and director J. Om Prakash.Â
Hrithik Roshan’s latest films like War, Kaabil, Krrish 3 and Bang Bang, are among Bollywood’s highest-grossing films. The actor was the first Bollywood star to own a six-seater jet plane.
One who fuels young dreams, Hrithik Roshan sponsors up-and-coming and underprivileged ballet dancers across the country and donates money to support the 100 or so dancers currently working.
As the Khans, Kapoors, and Kumars make way for new faces in content-driven shows and films to grab our attention, the culture of superstars is seeing to be waning gradually.
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Edited by Anupama Roy
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