India's richest filmmaker isn't from Bollywood, has $3.6 billion net worth, is richer than SRK, Aditya Chopra combined

India's richest filmmaker has amassed a wealth of ₹30,000 crore and he is not even from Bollywood. He is responsible for Rajinikanth's biggest hit.

Updated on: Oct 12, 2024, 13:15:16 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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That films are a money-minting proposition is no secret. Indian films rake in crores and crores each year. And while the stars are always the face of these projects, it is the financiers and the producers who end up making the most amount of money (or losing it quite often). The richest filmmaker from India is a man who stays largely behind the camera and away from the limelight. And he has amassed wealth of $3.6 billion this way. (Also read: Meet Bollywood's only billionaire who is richer than Aditya Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar)

India's richest filmmaker

Kalanithi Maran, the business tycoon who was once called India's Bill Gates, is India's richest filmmaker. As per Forbes, the business tycoon and film producer is worth $3.6 billion ( ₹30,289 crore). Maran is the owner of Sun Group, a media conglomerate that controls 37 TV channels as well as a film production company named Sun Pictures. It is through Sun Pictures that Maran has given some of the biggest hits in Indian cinema history, including Enthiran, Petta, Beast, Jailer, and Raayan. Maran produced the biggest hits of several actors' careers, including Rajinikanth and Dhanush. His $3.6 billion wealth puts him way ahead of the second-richest filmmaker in India - Ronnie Screwvala with a net worth of $1.55 billion.

Kalanithi Maran gifted Rajinikanth a BMW after the success of their film Jailer

How Kalanithi Maran dwarfs Bollywood

The Hindi film industry dwarfs the other film industries of India through its sheer size and audience reach. Yet, Maran's wealth is more than any of the Bollywood biggies. For instance, Aditya Chopra is worth 'just' $890 million while Bhushan Kumar is just a little ahead at $950 million. Even Shah Rukh Khan, one of the richest actors in the world, has a net worth of 'only' $870 million, one-fourth of Kalanithi Maran's wealth.

Who is Kalanithi Maran?

Kalanithi Maran is the son of former Union Minister and businessman Murosali Maran. He inherited a small business from his father and started his journey in 1990 at the age of 26. In 1993, he founded Sun TV, which has now grown into a giant network. In the recent years, he has diversified in sectors outside the media industry as well. He owns two cricket teams - Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa T20 League. From 2010-15, he held a major share in SpiceJet as well. His brother Dayanidhi Maran is an MP and former Union Minister.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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