THIS Hindi Cinema’s highest paid actor was a villain; charged 10 times more than Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit

MUMBAI : Chiranjeevi defeated current superstar Amitabh Bachchan to become the first Indian actor to charge Rs 1 crore for a film at the beginning of the 1990s. Actors such as Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan soon followed suit. However, one of the members of this 1-crore club was a villain who, for a little period of time, earned far more than even the Khans and was thus India's highest paid actor.

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The actor we are talking about is none other than Amrish Puri who has appeared in hundreds of films with most of them being blockbusters. It is unnecessary to introduce Amrish Puri, a titan of Indian cinema who was born on June 22, 1932. Years after his death, his commanding on-screen presence and thunderous voice still echoed through movie theaters, captivating moviegoers. Puri portrayed a number of memorable characters during his successful career, making a lasting impression on viewers.

In the 80s and 90s, Amrish Puri dominated Bollywood for more than ten years as the biggest antagonist. He played the legendary Mogambo in Mr. India (1987), one of the most recognisable movies and antagonists in Indian cinematic history. The seasoned actor performed brilliantly in negative roles in several movies throughout the ensuing years. Amrish Puri disclosed in an interview from the 1990s that he was earning Rs 1 crore for each film. Years later, he actually increased his costs to one crore, notwithstanding the initial assumption that he charged the amount for Mr. India. He was now, for a brief period of time, earning more money in Bollywood than any of the three Khans combined.

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Leading ladies of the day, including Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi, demanded an estimated Rs 10–12 lakh for each film in the early 1990s. Amrish Puri was ten times more expensive. Amitabh Bachchan had just temporarily retired and was taking a break from acting at the time. This meant that Shah Rukh, Salman, and Aamir Khan, together with Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt, were the industry's rising stars. Even the Khans charged no more than Rs 10 lakh for a movie in the early years of their careers, therefore Amrish Puri is ten times more expensive than they were. When Amitabh Bachchan finally made a comeback to the big screen in 1996, the Khans increased their rates by 97–98 to surpass the seasoned antagonist, implying that no villain ever achieved the feat of being the highest paid actor again.

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Credit-DNA