Small screen, big bucks

Even though TV might be called the small screen, the pay cheques of popular actors on the tube aren’t small by any means. Actor Ronit Roy commands the highest remuneration for his hit Sony show, Adalaat, that is...

Even though TV might be called the small screen, the pay cheques of popular actors on the tube aren’t small by any means. According to industry sources, actor Ronit Roy commands the highest remuneration at Rs 1.25 lakh per day for his hit Sony show, Adalaat. He rose to fame with Balaji’s Kasauti Zindagi Kay in 2003 and with his recent film Udaan’s (2010) success, he has cemented his position as a bankable actor in the industry.

Another reliable actor is Bade Achche Lagte Hain’s (BALH) lead Ram Kapoor, who also demands a huge pay cheque. “Ekta ensures that her TV shows feature popular actors like Ram, Sakshi Tanwar, Mona Singh and Sameer Soni. She casts them as they have high recall value and, therefore, she is willing to pay them well for their parts,” says an industry source. When BALH entered the TAM top 10 TV shows list a year ago, Ram got a pay hike and now makes Rs 1 lakh per day.

Television producer Sumeet Mittal agrees, “Ram and Ronit are paid well above a lakh a day. Most TV actors are paid on a per-day basis. New faces or lesser-known actors might get paid anywhere around Rs 10,000 per day. The pay packets usually depend on the makers, the show and the actor’s popularities,” adds Mittal.

“New actors make piddly sums ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, but if their show is a hit, they make mega bucks on their second venture,” adds the source.

After actor Gurmeet Choudhary’s show Geet became a hit, he was signed on for Mittal’s Punar Vivaah, for which he is currently charging over Rs 70,000 per day. Actor Hina Khan makes Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000, while actors Angad Hasija and Kinshuk Mahajan charge Rs 30,000-Rs 40,000 because they have the hit show Bidaai to back them up.

Actor Anas Rashid, the lead of the current number one show, Diya Aur Baati Hum, makes Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 only.

“There is some disparity in the payments. Many actors ask for unheard-of prices and due to the channel’s preference get paid more than they deserve. At times, a popular face is needed in a cameo role to hook the audience. Actors benefit from such situations. However, to work with big production houses owned by Ekta Kapoor, Rajan Shahi or Sumit Mittal, actors are known to have made compromises,” claims a source.

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Highest paid actors on tv

Ronit Roy -Rs 1.25 lakh

Ram Kapoor - Rs 1 lakh

Mona Singh -Rs 70K-Rs 80K

Sakshi Tanwar -Rs 60K-Rs 80K

Gurmeet Choudhary -Rs70K

Shweta Tiwari -Rs 50K-Rs 65K

Pratyusha Banerjee -Rs 40K-Rs 50K

Karan Kundra -Rs 50K

Kavita Kaushik -Rs 50K

Aamna Shariff -Rs50K