A file photo of Ranbir Kapoor at Shaurya premiere at PVR in Juhu, Mumbai Thursday late evening, April 3. Photo Credit: Sawf NewsJuly 1, 2008 (Sawf News) - Ranbir Kapoor may be a talented actor but he has just one movie to his credit, that too a flop! Yet, not only is he demanding an outrageous paycheck, unheard of for a newcomer, but also a share of his film's profit. Not surprisingly, Bollywood filmmakers are whining.
Ranbir Kapoor made his debut with Sony Pictures maiden Bollywood venture Saawariya (2007), directed by reputed director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Despite the considerable hype surrounding it, the film flopped. Yet, perhaps impressed by Ranbir's screen presence, filmmakers lined up to sign him up for their films.
Ranbir, quick to capitalize on his popularity, hiked his price, as much to make more money as to dampen the signing spree.
"When TIPS approached Ranbir for Rajkumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, opposite Katrina Kaif, he demanded a staggering Rs.7 crore plus a share in the profit of the film," a source in TIPS Production tells us. "It surely is the highest paycheck ever demanded by a newcomer in Bollywood. TIPS gave in to this demand and also got an oral agreement with him for 2 more films!"
In demanding a share of the profit, Ranbir Kapoor is following the trend set by established stars such as Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.
"Ranbir has started demanding a profit share for every new film that he signs," another Industry source tells us. "Apparently, Akshay Kumar who demands a fifty percent slice from his film's profit started this trend. Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan laid down the terms that they would sign films only if they co-produce them."
Ranbir's brashness hasn't gone down well with some filmmakers. A leading director on condition of anonymity told us.
"Actors like SRK, Aamir or even Akshay started demanding a profit share when they had already given a few hits to the producers, and when the producers started cashing in on them. So far, Ranbir has only one film to his credit and it hasn't done well at the box-office.
"Ranbir could have at least waited for a single hit before demanding such a price. He seems too overconfident about his next release, the Yash Raj project, Bachna Ae Haseeno."
Ranbir has signed up for so many films that a single failure is unlikely to derail his career.
His forthcoming projects include:
- Prakash Jha's Rajneeti with Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar and Manoj Bajpai;
- Karan Johar's My Name is Khan with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol,
- Ayaan Mukherjee's tentatively titled Wake Up Sid, with Konkona Sen Sharma;
- Shimit Amin's Rocket Singh,
- Siddharth Anand's Sajid Nadiadwala Next with Saif Ali Khan, reportedly based on the Oscar winning hit The Departed, with Ranbir playing Leonardo Di Caprio's part;
- and debutante director Vikramjit Singh's Mera Jahan.
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