First Indian actor & actress to charge Rs 1 crore per movie; not Amitabh, Rekha, SRK or Aishwarya!

Indian cinema has already covered a journey of over 100 years. In over a century journey, the cine industry has witnessed several iconic actors and actresses. However, lately, things have changed with the improvements and advancements. Now, Indian cinema is able to leave a global impact driving movie lovers crazy.

The craze is not limited to the recent blockbusters including Baahubali, KGF Chapter 2, RRR or Pathaan. The trend of making a global impact started quite earlier. Actors like Raj Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan already have had a global impact. Currently, the fee charged by actors and actresses is in crores per movie.

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But, did you know, who started the trend and became the first Indian actor and actress to charge Rs 1 crore per movie?

Bigger Than Bachchan! Telugu actor broke the barriers

Though actors like Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, to name a few, were the most celebrated and influential actors of their time, by then other regional cine industries had already got established. Even though the craze for Bollywood actors was across the country, their remuneration was less than Rs 1 crore. 

However, a Telugu actor broke the barrier and became the first Indian actor to charge over Rs 1 crore. It was Megastar Chiranjeevi who charged a whopping Rs 1.25 crore for the Telugu film Aapadbandhavudu in 1992. With this, he made it to the cover page of Stardust magazine with a headline: Bigger than Bachchan. The movie even became a blockbuster at the box office. 

While Amitabh Bachchan was reportedly charging Rs 85-90 lakh per film in those days though being one of the biggest stars in India, Chiranjeevi became the highest paid. Following that Universal Star Kamal Haasan joined the club in a few years and Thalaiva Rajinikanth was the next to join the fray soon. However, Amitabh joined the club quite late after he returned to acting in 1995. Meanwhile, actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan started charging over Rs 1 crore in the late 90s.

The actress who set the bar high & became the highest paid

Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Katrina Kaif, Kangana Ranaut and Alia Bhatt are among the highest-paid Indian actresses, who charge over a crore as remuneration for their movies. Well, these are the remuneration paid to actresses these days. However, earlier in the 90s, actresses like Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Kajol, Juhi Chawla, Sushmita Sen, Raveena Tandon and Aishwarya Rai charged in lakhs. 

Everyone is well aware that actors get paid higher than actresses. However, do you know who was the first actress to charge Rs one crore for a movie?

Among all the Indian actresses, Sridevi carved a niche in the film industry with her stellar performance, dance, and beauty. Apart from Bollywood, Sridevi had worked in several other regional cine industries including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada language.

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Born on August 13, 1963, in Tamil Nadu, Sridevi made her acting debut at the age of 4. Sridevi has worked with almost all tops actors of her time including Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, etc. 

She almost remained on the top of her game for around five decades. As per certain reports, Sridevi was the first Bollywood actress to charge Rs 1 crore as remuneration. Well, such a whopping amount as a fee for a movie was limited to actors. But, the craze for Sridevi and the blockbuster success of her movies paved her way to becoming the highest-paid actress.