Meet India’s highest paid villain charged Rs 200 crore for one film, more than Shah Rukh, Sanjay Dutt, Rajinikanth, Prabhas, Akshay Kumar

This actor has become the highest-paid villain in the history of Indian cinema, earning over Rs 200 crore for a single film.

Villains, for long, were stereotyped in Hindi cinema. Character actors with certain traits and strut were often forced into negative roles. Indeed, actors like Shakti Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Amrish Puri all became iconic villains over time. But of late, the role of villain has become more important that the role of actors. Moreover, heroes’ salary have increased so have the fees of villains. Infact, there has been an increasing number of mainstream heroes turning villains in high-budget films now. Well, the highest-paid of them all earned a whopping Rs 200 crore for a film.

India’s highest Paid Villain

Kannada star Yash, popularly known for the KGF series, have become the highest-paid villain in the history of Indian cinema. The actor is all set to play Ravan in Nitesh Tiwari’s highly-anticipated Ramayan. The film, which also stars Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi, is slated to be the most expensive film ever with a reported budget of $100 million (Rs 835 crore). Reportedly, Yash’s total fees plus distribution share in the film is Rs 200 crore, more than the film’s lead hero-Ranbir Kapoor.

The Rs 200 crore Yash is taking home for Ramayana is a remarkable feat. The biggest names in Indian cinema today are arguably Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Prabhas, Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar. None of these charge Rs 200 crore per film even for the biggest blockbusters. All of them earn somewhere between Rs 120 crore-180 crore, a figure less than Yash’s expected earnings for Ramayana. The only actors who Yash has managed to beat are Aamir Khan and Rajinikanth, both of them earned over Rs 225 crore for different films-Aamir for Dangal and Rajinikanth for Jailer.

Meanwhile, Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayan is reportedly a two-part film based on Valmiki’s Ramayana. Part 1 is expected to be released next year.