Ranveer Singh takes a pay cut for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Bajirao Mastani'

Ranveer Singh has taken a drastic pay cut in fees for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Bajirao Mastani'. SLB himself will take a complete pay cut, instead sharing in the profits. Leading ladies Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra will be paid their normal rates.

The spokesperson for Eros International, the film's producer, confirms, "It's finally a Rs 100-crore project because of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. We followed a similar deal in 'Ram-Leela' too where the director didn't take a fee upfront and chose to take a share in the profits instead. Hence, 'Ram-Leela's overall production cost ended up being Rs 60 crore. Worldwide, it grossed Rs 200 crore upwards."

With the rising fees of stars, filmmaking has become an even more expensive affair and studios have begun looking for new business models. Makers like Eros Entertainment was keen to cut down production costs for big-budget projects and have instead invited the director and actors to share in fees rather than take an upfront fee. This makes sense, because if you're charging for star power, you ought to take responsibility when that power fails. Naturally, this arrangement is not to the liking of all actors.

Previously too, there have been actors who have reduced their fees for films. Sonakshi Sinha took a paycut for Vikramaditya Motwane's 'Lootera' whereas Anushka Sharma cut her fees by 1/3rd for 'NH10', which is also her first production.