South Indian actors have always had a tremendous fan following with millions of fans boasting the actor’s fame as if it is their own achievement. This puts them under the constant spotlight with pouring accolades in the form of awards, honours and wealth. The star status comes with an advantage of demanding their own salary, something that is frowned upon by the producers who bankroll the huge projects and has to cut a big chunk of bread for the actors.
Joseph Vijay
An actor whose journey from being trolled for his earlier acting to now being one of the most sought after actors, guaranteeing the basic return for the makers, Joseph Vijay’s propulsion into stardom is admirable. Vijay with movies like ‘Leo’, ‘The Greatest Of All Time’ is now quitting acting and stepping into politics is said to be finalising a huge salary for his last film ‘Thalapathy 69’. An estimated 130 to 275 crores is in talks for the actor who will be last seen in the untitled movie.
*The Ranking is based on Forbes
Rajinikanth
One of the biggest stars Tamil Cinema has ever produced with a fan base that is devoted and epitomises the actor as a perennial figure in Indian Cinema is ‘Super Star’ Rajinikanth. From humble beginnings to grounded fame, Rajinikanth’s personal lifestyle and public appearances may not scream money but the ‘Badshah’ actor is earning an estimated 125 to 270 crores per film. With his incomparable style and screen presence, the actor in his 70s still runs the show with celebrated movies like ‘Jailer’ and ‘Vettaiyan’, dominating the industry.
Prabhas
Tollywood’s ‘Darling’ who has been one among commercial stars of the Telugu Industry catapulted into global fame with the highly celebrated duology ‘Bahubali’. Prabhas’s stature and commanding screen presence wins a huge fanbase, even spreading into Bollywood. The actor is currently roped into high octane action films with massive production value, also taking home approximately 100 to 200 crores. His recent release ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ is now followed by upcoming ‘Salaar 2’ and ‘Spirit’, gaining a comfortable spot for next year.
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is a living irony, a star who avoids stardom and the perks that comes with it, maintaining a low social life and parallelly practising his own passion. He also has the ability to fill up theatres with fans adoring his on screen appearances with his last release ‘Thunivu’ in 2023 and upcoming ‘Vidaa Muyarchi’ and ‘ Good Bad Ugly’ in 2025. He is estimated to be earning around 105 to 165 crores per movie.
Kamal Hassan
Revered by fans, admired by cinema lovers all along, Kamal Hassan has one of the most perfect filmography with multitude skills and achievements surpassing his experience. As an actor, director, dancer, producer, screenwriter, lyricist and many more, Kamal Hassan is versatile in every sense, creating spectacle after spectacle for decades, placing Tamil Cinema in the eyes of world cinema audiences. The actor with successful releases ‘Vikram’, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and the recent forgettable ‘Indian 2’ is estimated to be earning 100 to 150 crores per movie.
This Week’s Top 10 TRP Ratings of Kannada SerialsRam Charan
Hailing from an impressive background, Ram Charan’s introduction into the industry might be seamless but the actor has proven his worth with several lovable performances as a warrior in his debut to a charming lover boy. His salary and bankability increased after the successful ‘RRR’ movie release which has now skyrocketed to an estimated 100 to 130 crores for his upcoming release ‘Game Changer’
Allu Arjun
Allu Arjun, remarkable for his energetic and flexible dance numbers and several memorable commercial roles is now on his path of becoming a Pan – Indian star with the release of ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ in 2021. The actor is involved in the release of the famous sequel ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ that is marked for release on December 5, 2024. Allu Arjun is estimated to get 100 to 125 crores per movie as of 2024.
Mahesh Babu
Mahesh Babu, primarily working on rooted, regional commercial films that are solely focused to cater the Telugu audience has achieved quite a place for himself. While many South Indian actors climbing the Bollywood stairs into fame, Mahesh Babu confined himself to his native state, garnering attention and stardom, bagging an estimated 80 to 100 crores remuneration for his movies like ‘Guntur Kaaram’ (2024), according to The Financial Express.
Suriya
Another starkid who has had an incredible journey to stardom, Suriya has transformational choices that levelled up his career into a promising actor, genuinely working for the wellness of cinema and the stories that are told through the medium. The actor is currently waiting for the release of a massive movie, ‘Kanguva’ for which he is estimated to be earning 39 crores as remuneration as per The Financial Express.
Dhanush
From being the natural choice of boy next door to now emerging in Hollywood, Dhanush’s growth and impressive choices is noteworthy. His significant part in pushing limits in terms of contents and transformation, he has attained the Pro status and an inspiration to many. Dhanush in his director era is successful as ‘Raayan’ released in 2024 was a hit nevertheless the mixed reviews, bagging Dhanush an estimated remuneration of 35 crores according to GQ.
