Meet Bollywood actor who charged Rs 4.35 crore per minute, beating SRK, Salman and Prabhas

Actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Prabhas and Rajinikanth have dominated the industry with their massive fees, but with the upcoming 'Dhamaal 4', Ajay Devgn's name is on everyone's lips. The makers of the Hindi comedy announced recently that 'Dhamaal 4' would hit cinemas on Eid 2026.

Directed by Indra Kumar, the film sees the return of the iconic actors, Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Javed Jaaferi, along with new cast members Sanjeeda Shaikh, Anjali Anand, Upendra Limaye, Vijay Patkar and Ravi Kishan. With this announcement, fans are buzzing about Devgn's comedic comeback in one of Bollywood's most loved franchises.

But the buzz around Devgn is not just about comedy.

Ajay Devgn created history in 2022 when he charged Rs 35 crore for an eight-minute cameo in SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’. That becomes Rs 4.35 crore per minute, making him India’s highest paid actor.

To put this into perspective: for Shah Rukh Khan to match Devgn’s per-minute rate in ‘Jawan’, where he had over 70 minutes of screen time, he would have had to charge Rs 300 crore, a figure well beyond even the blockbuster’s budget. The same applies to other Bollywood top earners – from Rajinikanth (‘Jailer’) and Salman Khan (‘Tiger 3’) to Allu Arjun (‘Pushpa 2’) and Prabhas (‘Kalki 2898 AD’).

While Ajay’s ‘RRR’ cameo remains the most expensive in Indian cinema history, his commanding presence extends beyond films. In 2021, he became the highest-paid OTT star in India when he signed ‘Rudra: The Edge of Darkness’ with Disney Hotstar for Rs 125 crore.

Devgn continues to be a box office magnet with hits like ‘Drishyam 2’, ‘Raid 2’ and ‘Singham Again’. Industry insiders say he calibrates his fees depending on the project, taking around Rs 20 crore for mid-budget films, but ramping it up to Rs 40 crore for high-profile ventures.