In Telugu cinema, top actors usually refrain from talking about the budget of their movies. Their answers are evasive. "The budget is within my market range." "I don't like to get involved in the budget talk." "You should ask the producer about the budget." These are the typical replies superstars in Tollywood give.
But there was a time when Mahesh Babu used to reveal the budget of his films if asked in the right way. He revealed the budget of 'Bobby' in 2002 to be Rs 9 Cr to Rs 9.5 Cr in an interview. "With print and publicity, the total cost comes to Rs 11.50 Cr or Rs 12 Cr. It should collect around Rs 13 Cr to break even. That should not be a problem," he told a portal at that time.
It has been years since Mahesh has been so transparent, probably because remunerations have become a complex issue nowadays. Top heroes like Mahesh, Prabhas, Pawan Kalyan, Allu Arjun and Jr NTR enter into agreements with producers. As per the agreements, defined monetary returns from specific rights (such as US release rights, satellite rights, etc) have to be paid to the hero. Heroes have been opting for revenue-sharing models if they have a wide market. Therefore, big stars have stopped talking about their fee.
Recently, Pawan Kalyan revealed that he received Rs 45 Cr for the remake of 'Vinodhaya Sitham' for participating in the shoot for 22 working days. It was a rare reveal.
