Star remuneration soars in regional cinema, producers face heavy losses

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bollywood has long been known for exorbitant star salaries, but trade experts say even smaller regional industries, such as Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, and Punjabi, are facing challenges with star remuneration rising three to five times in the last four years. In regional markets, box office collections are largely driven by a select few star names.

Moreover, streaming platforms prioritize titles featuring specific faces, allowing actors to demand inflated fees that eat into producers’ returns, even for successful films. Trade experts point out that despite hits like Manjummel Boys, Aavesham, and Premalu, Malayalam cinema, which spent nearly ₹1,000 crore in 2024, recovered only about ₹300 crore. Also read: India's podcast industry explodes with video, but faces monetization hurdles “This is a universal problem and one that is common to every industry.

When an actor becomes a star, around 50% of the overall budget of their films goes to their remuneration," independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai said. Pillai said that producers often prioritize stars believed to guarantee returns, without thoroughly evaluating the economic feasibility of their fees. Additionally, streaming platforms acquire regional films primarily when they feature recognizable faces, further inflating star demands.

“In smaller industries where budgets are much lower, it is anyway difficult to put projects together and there is no option but to bring a saleable star on board. In fact, other than varying degrees of star remuneration, the budget of most films in these industries would be the same," Pillai added. He, however, emphasized, that such stars can only do a maximum of two or three films per year, limiting