Bollywood stars cash in on southern cameos with high pay, fewer work days

Bollywood stars such as Saif Ali Khan, Bobby Deol, Deepika Padukone and Jahnvi Kapoor have reaped big gains from their appearances in films originally made in southern languages.

The actors can be paid more than double of what they usually charge for fewer days of work since they aren’t playing the lead characters in these movies, according to trade experts. Producers of mega-budget films aim to target both the Hindi belt as well as overseas audiences by also casting Bollywood stars even though the main lead is played by southern actors.

“The remuneration is dependent on the value that makers see in these stars, which is usually quite high,” said film producer, trade and exhibition expert Girish Johar. “That said, higher pay compared to Hindi cinema is definitely one of the most critical factors in Bollywood stars signing up for southern language films. Plus, this usually comes with fewer days of work.”

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Against two to three months for Hindi films that may lead, Bollywood faces are usually required for only about a month for southern projects. Johar said the high fee is possible because southern filmmakers have already worked out the math and the presence of Bollywood stars opens up the northern market for them, enabling higher sales of theatrical distribution, OTT and music rights.

“The logic is that the makers would anyway have to scout for a strong antagonist or supporting actor, if they can manage to play a little more, they can get a Hindi movie face on board who would add to the reach of the film across markets,” Johar explained.

Cautious approach

Bollywood names, too, are cautious about the kind of southern titles they sign. While several projects are designed as pan-India films with high budgets and great scale, bringing both southern and Hindi film actors together, there have also been instances of such films not delivering at the box office. This August, actor Sanjay Dutt had featured in a Telugu film called Double iSmart that only ended up with collections of Rs. 1.15 crore from its Hindi version.

Yet, Hindi film actors joining the cast of southern films also expands overseas reach for makers, who are looking to tap diasporic markets such as the US and UAE, said Mukesh Mehta, founder of Malayalam film production and distribution company E4 Entertainment.

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Over the past few months, Hindi industry actors such as Bobby Deol, Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan, who don’t really carry full-fledged feature film projects on their shoulders anymore, have received a new lease of life thanks to main antagonist roles in big-budget movies originally made in southern languages but released with multiple dubbed versions.

Deol will be seen in a Tamil film with Suriya titled Kanguva and will also appear in a Telugu project starring Nandamuri Balakrishna. Meanwhile, Dutt has featured in titles like KGF: Chapter 2 and Leo, besides Double iSmart. Khan, who was earlier seen in multilingual mythological flick Adipurush, played the antagonist in Jr NTR-starrer Devara that was released last month. Female actors Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone and Jahnvi Kapoor have also appeared in Telugu movies such as RRR, Kalki 2898 AD and Devara, respectively.

Trade experts say while this is a way for established actors to reinvent themselves, the crossover also helps to gain wider audiences in the northern belt, improving traction for the film in question.

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Several Hindi film actors are equally keen to be seen as pan-India stars featuring in big-budget films that release in multiple languages, even if it’s only for songs and brief according to trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai. “Plus, in the south, the payment is always on time and the film is completed without hassles while giving it a pan-India look.”