With this demand, he is the latest to join the league of Bollywood A-listers like Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman Just ten films into show business and Ranbir Kapoor is already part of the league of Bollywood A-listers who demand a lion’s share of the profit pie. Apparently, the young actor is claiming a whopping 70 per cent of the profit, placing him on par with stars the likes of Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, who are known to take home (after all these years) a similar percentage of the profit.
And, buzz is, Ranbir’s father Rishi has been instrumental in getting his son inducted into this elite club. Seems Rishi’s newest condition is: “If you want to cast my son in your film, you have to make sure you give him 70 per cent of the film’s profit share.” We hear the Besharam deal was made on this condition which is why, initially, producers Viacom 18 withdrew as they weren’t willing to relent.
TOI had reported in August how Viacom 18 earlier withdrew support to Abhinav Kashyap because he wanted profit sharing benefits not only for himself but for his entire crew. Apparently, the condition put forth by Rishi only added to Abhinav’s demands. And the production house was forced to decline because they felt this was more in keeping with the Hollywood style of functioning. However, later everything fell into place and Viacom 18 agreed to produce the film. Trade analyst Amod Mehra feels it is the perception about Ranbir that works for him. “The boy has got good reviews for his performances and so in the younger crop, he is the superstar. It is obvious his dad wants to make the best of this situation. It is all about smart thinking and smart marketing of talent,” Mehra said and added, “The stars of today are much smarter. We cannot run away from the truth that most movies run and are guaranteed to do well, if there is star power attached to them. So they might as well use it to their advantage.” Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said, “Most A-list stars like SRK, Salman, Aamir, Ajay, Saif, Akshay and now Ranbir ask for a percentage in the profit.
