Tamil director-turned-actor S J Suryah is on cloud nine since he has reportedly pocketed Rs 10 crore for his baddie role in his upcoming Telugu film with hotshot star Nani and it is being directed by Vivek Athreya. With the action film being bankrolled by DVV Danayya who made a Rs 500 crore film ‘RRR”, S J Suryah reportedly insisted on a fancy pay.
“Interestingly, Suryah told the managers not to bargain since the film is being made by a cash-rich producer so he could quote a hefty sum and get it too,” says a source, who claims that the producer was a bit surprised with the comment but still roped in the talented actor since he could breathe life into the character with ease and impress the audience.
Nonetheless, S J Suryah has surpassed Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt who is pocketing Rs 6 crores for his baddy role in Puri Jagannath’s ‘Double iSmart. “Suryah has elbowed out more popular actor Sanjay Dutt in hefty pay,” he adds. He also overtook other Bollywood actors like Saif Ali Khan(Devara), Bobby Deol (Hari Hara Veera Mallu), and Nawazuddin Siddique (Saindhav) in Tollywood. "Suryah ratings soared after his rivetting performance in films like ‘Maanaadu’ and ‘Mark Antony’ and has been flooded with offers from varied languages but he quite choosy,” adds the source.
Actually, S J Suryah is known as a director in Tollywood since he made films with superstars like Pawan Kalyan(Kushi and Puli) and Mahesh Babu(Nani) and also played a menacing serial killer opposite Mahesh Babu in ‘Spyder’. “He has become busy as an actor and direction has taken a back seat,” he concludes.
