Rajinikanth’s salary halved for next film after the failure of Darbar

Sun Pictures, the makers of actor Rajinikanth's next Tamil film, has decided to cut the salary of the veteran star by half following Darbar's failure. 

Darbar (2020), directed by AR Murugadoss, had incurred losses of Rs70 crore. It's said to be one of the biggest disasters of Rajinikanth's career. 

According to a report by the Hindustan Times newspaper, Kalanidhi Maran of Sun Pictures recently met Rajinikanth and convinced him to take a pay cut following Darbar's heavy losses. 

"Maran met Rajinikanth on the sets of their new film last week. Following the failure of Darbar, Maran requested Rajinikanth to take a pay cut and when the latter was surprised by the decision; Maran was even ready to shelve the project. After much deliberation, Rajinikanth agreed to cut his salary by half. After being paid Rs118 crore (including GST) for Darbar, Sun Pictures offered to pay Rs58 crore (including GST)," a source said. 

Darbar featured Rajinikanth in the role of an angry cop who sets out to avenge his daughter. The film marked the maiden collaboration of Rajinikanth and filmmaker AR Murugadoss, who is best known for helming Ghajini (2008) and Kaththi (2014). It marked the return of Rajinikanth in the role of a cop after 25 years. 

Darbar also starred Nayanthara, Suniel Shetty, Prateik Babbar, Nivetha Thomas and Yogi Babu in key roles. The film has music by Anirudh Ravichander while Santosh Sivan is the cinematographer. 

The shoot of Rajinikanth's film with director Siva is currently underway. The yet-untitled family drama also stars Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Khushbu and Meena in important roles. The project has music by D Imman.