Varisu Producer Dil Raju Says There Are 'At least 5 Stars Who Charge Rs. 100 CR' In South

"After Baahubali, the film industry changed. And we can proudly say that the Telugu film industry is at the number 1 position today. At the time both the parts cost the producers Rs 600 crore"- Dil Raju

Varisu Producer Dil Raju Says There Are 'At least 5 Stars Who Charge Rs. 100 CR' In South

Source : IMDb

New Delhi: The Telugu industry has seen a massive change with super-successful releases like 'RRR', the 'Baahubali' franchise among many others. Besides the Telugu industry, recent films like 'KGF' and 'Kantara' from the Kannada film industry have also changed the ball game of theatrical releases in the last two years. Recently, known Telugu producer Dil Raju talked about the humongous cost of production most mega films have today. During the talk show 'Open Heart with RK', Dil Raju said that the high cost of production of a film now is also because of the high salaries of the leading stars( particularly the heroes).

"Non-theatrical revenues have grown, which has led to a four times increase in remunerations of cast and crew. There are at least five stars who charge Rs 100 crore (per film),” he said. 

“After Baahubali, the film industry changed. And we can proudly say that the Telugu film industry is at the number 1 position today. At the time both the parts (of Baahubali) cost the producers Rs 600 crore. The profits from the first part for the producers were negative. The producers, director and stars tried to expand their market with that film. And they risked the (huge) budget. When Baahubali 1 worked, they made profits on part 2. Without taking the risk with part 1, they wouldn’t have gained this success,”  Dil Raju added.

The majority of the biggest box office films of 2022 have come from the Southern film industry in recent years.

"Now take, for example, KGF. They took the lessons from Baahubali and made a compact film. The first part worked and the second part worked extraordinarily. They saw magic numbers (in collections). Kantara was pure magic. It made history when you consider its cost. Rs 25 crore is the maximum the producers would have spent on that film. It’s a very rare occurrence,” he added.

While 'KGF: Chapter 2' collected over Rs 1000 crore globally, 'Kantara’s worldwide collection is pegged at over Rs 400 crore.

 

While earlier only the top stars from Bollywood could and would charge high salaries, now given the performances of many films in the South, producers like Raju can accommodate the high remuneration of big stars.

Dil Raju is now producing Tamil superstar Vijay's 'Varisu'. Vijay happens to be one of the highest-paid actors in Tamil cinema. As per reports, Vijay charged Rs. 80 crores for his last film 'Master'.

Varisu is directed by Vamshi Paidipally and also stars Rashmika Mandanna.