With Kollywood Lady Superstar Nayantara reportedly drawing Rs 6 crore for her Bollywood debut ‘Jawan’, she becomes the highest-paid actress in South India.
She outwits her peers like Anushka Shetty, Pooja Hegde, Kajal Aggarwal, Rashmika Madanna, and Shruti Haasan, who take home anywhere between Rs 2.5 to 3 crores. Undoubtedly, Nayantara has become the undisputed numero uno actress today.
“Nayantara never compromised on her remuneration and was quite firm about her terms and conditions. She finally managed to draw the highest pay by any South Indian diva,” says a source.
Actually, Nayantara's remuneration touched the Rs 4 crore mark in Tollywood while working with Telugu stars like Chiranjeevi (Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy) and Balakrishna (Simha to Jai Simha). She was keen about her pay while doing regular glam-centric roles, but revised her pay for female-centric films.
“She adopted a dual strategy in the last 10 years. She was pocketing hefty sums while working with big stars since she knew that she didn't have much to do in hero-driven films. Whereas, for author-backed roles, where she had to carry the film on her shoulders, she cut her pay by half to Rs 1.5 to 2 crore to make the project viable. This game plan helped her to deliver hits like 'Maaya', 'Dora', 'Aramm' and "Kolamavu Kokila to rock Tamil cinema and extend her career in the tinsel world," he concludes.
Hope Telugu actresses will take a leaf out of her book and adopt flexible remunerations, depending on the budget of the film, rather than demanding just fancy pay.
