But with the pay disparity now beginning to affect movie viability, a few male actors have finally agreed to decrease their exorbitant fees to make their films profitable. The measures are yet to help the industry financially, but they seem to show how the spotlight is shifting shifted from stars to quality, original productions.

Here are five Indian stars who’ve slashed their prices in 2022.

1. Akshay Kumar

Bollywood’s Khiladi star has mostly boasted a career of blockbusters, evidenced by his US$240 million net worth (per Celebritys Worth). His post-Covid-19 film Sooryavanshi, fetched a promising US$25 million too, per Livemint – impressive for the pandemic-hit industry.

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This year, though, all four of his outings (Bachchan Pandey, Samrat Prithviraj, Raksha Bandhan and Ram Setu) have tanked, with his per-film US$12 million salary (per Koimoi) upping the losses.

The 55-year-old has reportedly reduced his fee to an unknown amount for his upcoming medium-budget films Selfiee and the remake of Tamil hit Soorarai Pottru, added Koimoi.

2. Tiger Shroff

The 32-year-old has consequently halved his US$4 million to US$5 million (per Desi Martini) salary for an upcoming musical comedy, reported the National Herald. Livemint mentioned two more WIPs, Ganapath and Screw Dheela, undergoing budget and pay cuts.

3. Aamir Khan

Bollywood’s “Mr. Perfectionist” takes a share from a film’s profit instead of charging fees upfront, per Pinkvilla. Consequently, he’d earn as much as US$25 million per movie, according to Bollywood Hungama.

This piles up nicely to his current US$235 million net worth, as estimated by CA Knowledge. Even for rare disasters like Thugs of Hindostan, the 3 Idiots star took home half of the film’s other revenues, worth US$8 million, reported Bollywood Hungama.

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4. John Abraham

Abraham may have struck big with Jism (2003) and Dhoom (2004) and headlined blockbusters such as Dostana, Madras Cafe and Satyameva Jayate, but the 49-year-old’s recent films Satyameva Jayate 2, Attack: Part 1 and Ek Villain Returns have all flopped.

Following the dent in his bankability, the star, whose net worth is valued at US$34 million per CA Knowledge, has lowered his fee by US$370,000 and is charging US$2 million for his next with director Sajid Khan, reported Desi Martini.

5. Vijay Deverakonda

The Tollywood star’s Bollywood debut Liger was a washout, earning just US$2.5 million against a US$12 million budget, per Economic Times. Worth US$7 million, according to CA Knowledge, Deverakonda reportedly renounced a good proportion of his remuneration, giving up US$700,000 from his salary to help recoup the losses, as shared by News18.

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The 33-year-old expected his next film Jana Gana Mana to be affected by Liger’s poor performance, per News18. A Hindustan Times report even stated that the Telugu film now stands to be shelved, as Liger director Puri Jagannadh is helming it too.