The other day, speaking to a national media house, Mahesh Babu said that Bollywood can't afford him. "Offers have come my way from Bollywood. I don't want to sound arrogant but I can't waste my time when the Hindi film industry can't afford me," the 'Sarkaru Vaari Paata' actor said.
Sections of the media are making Mahesh's comments all about money. They are now writing about how much he charges per movie. A report says that Mahesh earns something like Rs 35 to 45 Cr per movie in Telugu.
Given this, how come Mahesh thinks Bollywood can't afford him? The likes of Akshay Kumar are paid up to Rs 50 Cr. Recently, Karan Johar said that even an actor with no major hit to his credit demands Rs 20 Cr in Bollywood. Shahid Kapoor reportedly asked for Rs 33 Cr as a fee for 'Jersey' after 'Kabir Singh' became a blockbuster. If Mahesh has a big market in Hindi, any Bollywood producer would be more than happy to pay him Rs 40 Cr or thereabouts.
But one wouldn't know how much Mahesh expects Bollywood to pay him.
