| Sivaji,
Dasavatharam and their skyrocketing
budget |
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Movie
making is no child’s play. Tamil
movie making is reaching new turns
these days owing to their exorbitant
budgets and mega star casts. What
plays a significant role in deciding
a mega movie? The hefty paycheck of
the actors followed by the paycheck
of directors and heroine of the movie.
While these aspects devour the lion’s
share of the movie’s budget,
the rest of the budget is spent on
extravagant sets, ostentatious costumes,
and exotic locales, which fulfills
the budget. |
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Interestingly, crores have become
no matter of concern these days.
Even a movie with a shoestring
budget and not-a-star-thing-cast
costs more than a crore in Tamil
cinema and if the returns are
satisfactory, producers resort
to those kinds of movies in
large numbers to try their luck
at the box office. Many have
managed to make money though
that way.
Rajini’s Sivaji and Kamal’s
Dasavatharam are the two upcoming
movies with out of the ordinary
budget. |
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While
Rajini’s movies are always meant
to be flamboyant costing close to
40 crores, Kamal’s movies are
nothing far behind. Kamal’s
Dasavatharam is expected to touch
a 35 crore budget mark owing to its
added attractions like Himesh Reshmmiya,
Mallika Sherawat, and Kamal himself
in 10 different roles. |
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Out of Sivaji’s budget,
Rajini takes home close to 20
crore which is more than just
half of the budget. Next comes
Shankar with a paycheck of 3
crores. Rahman’s paycheck
is two crores and the heroine
Shreya is paid 30 lakhs. Other
expenses like special effects,
technicians’ wages, outdoor
shooting expenses – especially
in locations outside India contribute
to the rest of the budget.
Luckily,
and to the benefit of the producer,
Rajini’s movies have a
minimum guarantee all over the
world. His flicks will be sold
at a minimum of 30 lakhs per
print, which almost covers up
the entire budget that was spent
on the moviemaking. |
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If
that is not enough, the movies
promisingly make a huge profit
almost all the time. In rare
instances as in case of Baba,
if the movie fails to make profits,
Rajini calls on the distributors
and disburses the loss incurred
thereby equating the earning
and the expenditure.
While this is the case of Sivaji,
Dasavatharam remunerates Kamal
with a 7 crore paycheck. KS
Ravikumar is next in the line
with a crore’s pay check.
Himesh Reshmmiya is paid 50
lakh followed by Asin with a
45 lakh. |
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Mallika Sherawat receives a whopping
40 lakh for her flicker of an appearance
and Ravivarman, the cinematographer
is paid 40 lakh as well. The rest
of the budget is shared by the special
effects, wages of technicians, and
shooting abroad. |
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Though
Kamal’s movies are a safe
bet for the producer, they do
not have a minimum guarantee
in all distributing areas and
only have a say at the box office
in metros. At the same time,
Kamal’s movies manage
to churn out huge expectations,
where its run is based on the
first report of the public –
word of mouth precisely..
Under these circumstances, what
remains to be seen is whether
the movies are meeting the budget
standards and proving to be
monstrous hits. If the movies
manage to pull off blockbusters
at the box office, the producers
and the distributors will definitely
be in high spirits. |
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