Do big fat remunerations of stars like Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan burden Telugu industry? Producer says this

Producer Ravi Shankar was asked if Tollywood stars understand the strain their high remunerations put on the industry. Here's how he replied.

Producer Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers, who has backed films like Pushpa, Good Bad Ugly and Ustaad Bhagat Singh, was asked at a press meet if any of the top stars in the film industry understand the burden put on producers due to high remuneration. He was asked the question while talking about his recent release, Andhra King Taluka, which stars Ram Pothineni, Bhagyashri Borse, and Upendra. Here’s what he said.

Mahesh Babu and Allu Arjun are two of the highest earning Tollywood stars.

Mahesh Babu, Ram Charan delayed salary by a year

A reporter asked producer Ravi about a scene featuring Ram and Upendra, inquiring whether, like in the film, any of the top star heroes he had worked with had shown similar understanding and empathy towards producers. Citing Ram Charan and Mahesh Babu as examples, he replied, “Speaking from personal experience, for Rangasthalam (2018), Ram Charan still had to be paid ₹4 crore when the film was about to be released. He took it in instalments over a span of two years. It’s the same with Mahesh Babu. He didn’t take his remuneration for a year after Sarkaru Vaari Paata's (2022) release.”

Upendra, Ram found ways to work with us

Ravi claimed that Chiranjeevi and Ravi Teja did the same for Waltair Veerayya (2023) because they understood the intricacies of how OTT deals work. “None of them charged interest for the delayed payments. Upendra did have a set amount in mind when he signed (Andhra King Taluka); he agreed to whatever we offered. I know it is less than what he’s usually given. Ram took no money; he had been offered profits from Nizam and Guntur,” he said, shutting down criticism of how star fees usually put a burden on film producers.

Jr NTR, Pawan Kalyan asked to pay when we can

Citing other such examples, he stated that stars understand the changing rules of the game and that they take the rising cost of production into consideration. “Jr NTR asked me to give him money only when I can (for NTR-Neel). Prabhas is the same (with Fauzi). Will anybody believe if I say Pawan Kalyan only asked me to pay him if there’s anything left? Allu Arjun for Pushpa…he took it over the span of a year. As the market gets tougher, these things get revised. The game now is to lessen the number of days we shoot and tighten budgets wherever we can,” said Ravi.