For years, AR Rahman has been the most prominent and bankable music composer in the country. His albums have been chartbusters frequently, allowing him to charge crores per film. However, in 2023, a young upstart dethroned him as India's highest-paid musician, charging nine figures for a single project. And he did all this at the age of 33. (Also read: World's highest-paid TV star does not act, yet makes $75 million a year, beat Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Chris Pratt)
India's highest-paid musician
Anirudh Ravichander, the popular music composer known for Tamil films such as Jailer, Petta, Master, and Vikram, is the highest-paid music composer in India and, consequently, the highest-paid musician too. In 2023, Anirudh made his Bollywood debut with the compositions for Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jawan. News 18 reported that the composer charged ₹10 crore for the film, eclipsing AR Rahman's usual ₹7-8 crore fees per film. Notably, Anirudh brought his fees down for his subsequent films. Times of India reported that he charged ₹8 crore each for Leo and Jailer. Yet, he remains India's highest-paid composer.
How Anirudh beat stalwarts
Anirudh has been instrumental in bringing a new sound to Tamil cinema music. The composer is known to experiment with techno music and integrate actors' real-life personas for the background score for their characters. This helped him compose scores for the biggest stars like Rajinikanth (in Petta and Jailer), Kamal Haasan (in Vikram), Vijay (in Master and Leo), and Shah Rukh Khan (in Jawan). He has become a staple in the ‘camps’ of many stars like SRK, Rajini and Vijay. The fact that some of his tracks have become anthems for the stars - notably Hukum from Jailer - has elevated his stature in the industry. The success of the score has allowed the musician to hike his fees. This led to Anirudh charging ₹10 crore for a film at the age of 33.
{{/usCountry}}Anirudh has been instrumental in bringing a new sound to Tamil cinema music. The composer is known to experiment with techno music and integrate actors' real-life personas for the background score for their characters. This helped him compose scores for the biggest stars like Rajinikanth (in Petta and Jailer), Kamal Haasan (in Vikram), Vijay (in Master and Leo), and Shah Rukh Khan (in Jawan). He has become a staple in the ‘camps’ of many stars like SRK, Rajini and Vijay. The fact that some of his tracks have become anthems for the stars - notably Hukum from Jailer - has elevated his stature in the industry. The success of the score has allowed the musician to hike his fees. This led to Anirudh charging ₹10 crore for a film at the age of 33.
{{/usCountry}}Other Indian music composers like Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar, MM Keeravani, and Yuvan Shankar Raja all charge under ₹5 crore per film. The amount is even lower for singers, as they charge ₹15-20 lakh per song, and it rarely reaches a crore for one film. For private albums, singers can rake in over a crore, as Diljit Dosanjh routinely does.
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