Outlook – June 29, 2019

ACTORS’ PAY

by G.C. Shekhar in Chennai

T

HE year 2019 turned out to be as disap­

pointing for Tamil film hero Surya as

the past few years. His latest film, NGK,

directed by Selvaraghavan, bombed at

the box office. The underwhelming pol­

itical drama was panned by critics as

well. For this talented actor who had been

the main draw and acting soul of hits like

Kaakha Kaakha, Ghajini and Singam, NGK

joined his string of flops in the last six years.

“Surya’s last real hit was Singam 2, released in

2013; since then he has not come up with a

winning formula in spite of changing direc­

tors,” observes a leading film critic.

But the flops have not deterred Suriya

(43) from compromising on one thing

Tamil heroes are fiercely protective

about—their salaries. The diminutive

actor still quotes Rs 25 crore for a

film and only producers ready to

pay that enormous

amount are entertained.

But Suriya is not alone in

unwilling to compromise on the pay cheque. Other

Tamil heroes are refusing to climb down from

their high perches, sending, in turn, production

costs into the upper stratosphere.

With things having come to this expensive pass,

the state’s theatre owners have made a brave but

belated attempt to reign in movie stars—by brack­

eting them in three tiers which, in effect, is a rating

system of sorts. The tier system will determine

how much a star will get from the collections of his

film depending on his rating. A hero in tier 1 will

rake in 60 per cent of the distributor’s share from

‘A centres’ like Chennai, Chengalpattu (in Che­

nnai’s suburbs) and Coimbatore and 65 per cent in

other areas during the first week. For a tier 2 hero

the same will be 55 and 60 per cent respectively.

According to the system, only Rajnikant, Vijay

and Ajith qualify for tier 1, thanks to their mass

appeal and their ability to keep the cash registers

ringing over a sustained period. Actors

like Surya, Dhanush, Sivakarthike­

yan, Vijay Sethupathi, Jeyam Ravi

and Simbhu will be classified in

Duds may lie under the suds, but Tamil’s puffed

up filmstars demand the world in fees. Gasping

distributors mull a tier system to stay in business.

To Tie Up A

SHTAR

(From Left) Top

earners Vijay,

Rajnikant

and Ajith

100 cr

Rajnikant

25 cr

Suriya

8 cr

Vijay

Sethupathy

50 cr

Vijay & Ajith

10 cr

Karthi,

Dhanush

15 cr

Sivakarthikeyan

6 cr

Simbhu

The

price list

54 OUTLOOK 1 July 2019