After the phenomenal success of Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion, Prabhas was all set to make his Bollywood debut under Karan Johar’s banner. However, according to reports, Karan Johar dropped the idea of launching the Telugu superstar because reportedly Prabhas hiked his fee to Rs 20 crore per film.
According to a source quoted by DNA,
While it was okay for him to ask and get his desired price – reportedly in the vicinity of Rs 20 crore – in Telugu cinema, it was unrealistic for Prabhas to expect that kind of remuneration in Bollywood. No South Indian actor, not even Rajnikanth, has that kind of commercial clout in Hindi cinema. Prabhas has clearly out-priced himself from Bollywood. After Baahubali and its sequel, Karan was keen to launch Prabhas in Hindi cinema. But on seeing the price he was asking, Karan has decided to abandon the idea of launching him.
On October 26, Karan Johar posted a cryptic tweet which many speculated was directed at Prabhas. Take a look:
Dear Ambition…if you have to achieve your full potential stay away from your arch nemesis….Comparison!
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) October 26, 2017
Though Karan Johar is known for sending out such blunt-arrow tweets, this one stands out as he posted it just one day after the first look of Prabhas’ next film Saaho was released. But is he right in dropping out the South Indian actor just because he thinks the price is too much for Hindi film industry?
Prabhas-starrer Baahubali franchise in total earned about Rs 2375 crores and propelled the Telugu star to worldwide recognition. It was only after achieving such an astounding success that Prabhas hiked up his fee. ANd why shouldn’t he have? Other South Indian films like SPYder, VIP2 and Vivegam that followed Baahubali’s success also did well in the Hindi speaking belt. In comparison, Karan Johar’s last couple of directorial earned less than Rs 200 crore. In fact, his last 11 production ventures total up to less than half of the last two Prabhas ventures. So is it justified to say that Prabhas was charging too much?
If actors like Varun Dhawan can hike up their fee to Rs 25 crore after Judwaa 2 raked in around Rs 132 crore, why can’t Prabhas demand Rs 20 crore when his last release crossed Rs 1500 crore?
This year has been a bad one for Bollywood with films of generally bankable stars like Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan falling flat at the Box Office. It’s high time that producers like Karan Johar shed both their pride and inhibitions, and rather look out from the glittery shell of Bollywood.
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