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It was 1976 when two Kollywood superstars were just starting their careers. A relatively new actor called Rajinikanth and a diva called Sridevi. They both starred together in a film titled Moondru Mudichu, which had superstar Kamal Haasan. Why superstar? Well, the money mattered. The fee the three stars were offered for the film was vividly different.
While Kamal Haasan was the highest paid of the lot, Rajinikanth was the least paid. However, the gap between their salaries was so huge that one would not believe then that these three stars, at some point in their careers, would be treated as equals and command equal money and respect.
Moondru Mudichu is a Tamil film directed by K. Balachander. While Rajinikanth was paid only Rs 2000 for his role, Sridevi was paid more than double a sum of Rs 5000 for this film. But you won’t believe Kamal Haasan’s eye-popping amount for the same film.
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In a very old interview, Sridevi once confessed that Kamal Haasan was paid some 30,000 for the film. Almost 15 times higher than the parallel lead Rajinikanth! Yes, Kamal Haasan’s fee for the film was a whopping 1400% higher than Rajinikanth’s! In the same interview, the English-Vinglish actress recalled that Rajini, who shared a close mom with Sri’s mom, told her that he was appalled by this huge pay gap.
He asked Sridevi’s mom if he would someday be as big an actor as Ulaga Nayagan and the diva’s mother assured him in the affirmative. Rajinikanth’s only dream at that time was only earning Rs 30,000 for a film – a testimony to how big a star Kamal Haasan was!
Moondru Mudichu is a Tamil film about two men who are roommates falling in love with the same woman. This film was Sridevi’s debut film that presented her as an adult. However, she was just 13 years old when she did the film. Imagine earning Rs 5000 at the age of 13, in the year 1976! Whoa! That is an unimaginable amount.
Interestingly, Rajinikanth is now the highest-paid actor in the South Belt after he was charged 250 crore for Lokesh Kanagaraj’s film. Not only this, the amount he has charged makes him the highest-paid actor in Asia!
Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan has charged a whopping 150 crore for Indian 2. Thalaivaa is currently earning 66% higher than Ulaga Nayagan!
Did anyone talk about dreams and manifestations?
PS. Moondru Mudichu is rated 7.8 on IMDb, and you can watch the film on the OTT platform, Jio Cinema.
For more such throwbacks, stay tuned to Koimoi.
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