It’s been one helluva year for Nayantara, who has had three successive blockbusters – Thani Oruvan, Maya and Naanum Rowdydhaan to her credit. With her films turning out to be huge money spinners, the 31-year-old has decided to duly reward herself for the success by hiking her remuneration by 50 percent. Nayantara is reportedly being paid a whopping Rs 3 crore for her next film with actor Vikram, thus making her the highest paid southern actress ever.
“Having been paid Rs 3 crore for Vikram’s tentatively titled film Mareesan, Nayantara has surpassed her contemporaries such as Trisha Krishnan, Anushka Shetty and Shruti Haasan. While Trisha and Anushka are paid Rs 1.5 crore, Shruti, after back-to-back hits this year, is rumoured to be paid Rs 2 crore,” a source said, pointing out that Nayantara is only willing to reduce her remuneration for Malayalam films. “The budget of Malayalam films is usually very low, hence, she has agreed to take a pay cut. She was paid Rs 1.5 crore for her latest Malayalam project with Mammootty,” the source added.
Meanwhile, she has signed another woman-centric film in Tamil. This project, which will go on floors next year, will be produced by National award-winning filmmaker Sarkunam and directed by his erstwhile assistant Dass Ramaswamy. She will soon start working on a Telugu film with actor Venkatesh, with whom she has already worked twice in the past.
(Karthik Kumar is an independent film critic and journalist. He actively follows and writes on popular South Indian cinema and covers independent films too.)
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