Bollywood's highest-paid star made ₹275 crore from one film; has no hit in years, yet ahead of Shah Rukh, Salman, Ranbir

This actor earned a record ₹275 crore for a single film, something even top stars like Shah Rukh Khan haven't been able to achieve.

₹275 crore is a big figure. It is enough to be a decent-sized Indian film's box office collection or a big Bollywood action flick's budget. But what if we were to say this is also the amount earned by an actor for one film? What's more, the film still managed to turn a profit. This is the story of Bollywood's highest-paid star, who ruled the box office at his peak. (

Bollywood's highest-paid actor took twice as much as some of his biggest rival for a single film (Graphic courtesy: Amit Mathur/HT. Original photo: Aamir Khan Productions/Disney India)

Who is Bollywood's highest-paid star?

It is a Khan who rules this list, but not the one most folks would guess today. Aamir Khan tops the list of Bollywood's highest-paid actors, having earned a staggering ₹275 crore from a single film—Dangal. This happened back in 2017, after the film's ₹1300-crore windfall from China, which earned Aamir a substantial amount in profits.

According to a Bollywood Hungama report from 2017, Aamir charged ₹35 crore as upfront fees for Dangal. In addition, he also entered into a profit-sharing agreement with the makers of the sports biopic. Dangal was released in December 2016 and became a massive success, earning over ₹500 crore gross from India and over ₹100 crore overseas in its initial run. This, along with the sale of satellite and digital rights, netted the film a profit of ₹420 crore, per reports. Aamir took home ₹140 crore from that, bringing his earnings from the film to ₹175 crore.

Aamir Khan in a still from Dangal, a biopic on the Phogat sisters of wrestling

But there was more to come. Dangal was released in China the following year, becoming one of the biggest hits ever. The film earned $200 million in the country. Forbes reported that this earned Aamir another $15 million ( ₹100 crore) in profit share. This took his total earnings from the movie to a whopping ₹275 crore. This was the highest by any Indian actor ever and has since been reportedly surpassed by Allu Arjun, who is set to earn ₹300 crore from Pushpa 2. However, Aamir reigns supreme in Bollywood, given that both Shah Rukh and Salman earn somewhere between ₹120-200 crore per film, depending on the box office returns.

Aamir's career post-Dangal

Aamir had been the king of Bollywood box office for several years before Dangal. His film, Ghajini, had established the ₹100-crore club in 2008. He was the one who broke the ₹400-crore and ₹600-crore barriers with hits like 3 Idiots, PK, and Dhoom 3. Dangal was the zenith of this spectacular run of form. His next appearance on screen was in Secret Superstar, where he did a cameo. Since then, Aamir has done two films in lead, and both have been massive box office bombs. Thugs of Hindostan remains one of the worst flops in Bollywood history, and Laal Singh Chaddha, too, bombed upon release in 2022. Even as other stars rebounded (Shah Rukh most notably), Aamir remains Bollywood's highest-paid star.