Ranveer Singh
Ranveer Singh graduated from Indiana University, and returned to India to hunt for a job. He made a successful start as a copywriter in advertising. Simultaneously, he auditioned for several films, and finally was noticed by Aditya Chopra, who cast him in the role of a wedding planner in Band Baaja Baaraat. The movie turned out to be a critical and commercial success, and there’s been no looking back for Ranveer Singh since then. Ranveer is now adopting the revenue sharing model with his upcoming film Bajirao Mastani, making him one of the most lucrative stars. The flipside is the advertising world lost out on a great marketer.
Akshay Kumar
After acquiring a taekwondo black belt in India, Akshay Kumar went on to study martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand. There, he worked as a waiter and chef in a restaurant to support himself. Upon finishing his training, he came to India, and tried to open a Martial arts training school. He also took up modeling as a part time job, and found that he could get more money in a one day modeling assignment than he could get in an entire month of martial arts training. It is through his modeling contacts that he got his first movie break in the movie, Deedar. Today, He has a phenomenal net worth of over Rs 1600 crore, making his decision to take up acting one of the best career choices ever.
Deepika Padukone
If Deepika Padukone would’nt have been an actress today, she would still have been an international top model. Despite being the daughter of ace badmington player Prakash Padukone, Deepika has never fallen back on her father’s accomplishments to further her career. Due to her height and good looks, she quickly became one of the most coveted models in India, and received many film offers. It was through modelling that she was noticed by Farah Khan, who was looking to cast a new actress along side Shahrukh Khan in her upcoming film Om Shanti Om. This movie became a runaway hit, and Deepika became one of the most sought out actresses in India, bagging one prestigious film after another. Its speculated that her fortune has crossed ` 60 crore, and she is just getting started.
Siddharth Malhotra
Siddharth Malhotra began modeling since the early age of 18. He was very interested in direction, and he has also assisted Karan Johar on his film My Name is Khan. Karan was impressed with Siddharth enough to cast him in his upcoming student comedy Student of the Year, alongside Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, both of whom had star parents and a much more guaranteed shot at success. The movie became a hit, and Siddharth was noticed for his acting chops, He subsequently starred in Ek Villian, which became a massive blockbuster. He is now working alongside Akshay Kumar in the upcoming film Brothers. Siddhart currently has a net worth of Rs 60 crore, and reportedly charges Rs 5-6 crore per film. Not bad at all for a relative newbie. But who knows, if he hadn’t become an actor, Siddharth may have been a successful director someday.
Anushka Sharma
Anushka Sharma was one of the most popular modeling faces in India, when she landed the lead role opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Rab ne Bana Di Jodi. Not only has she worked with almost all the top stars of Bollywood, she has acted in the most commercially successful movie in Bollywood history – PK. In such a short while in Bollywood, Anushka has not only become a bonafide top star, she has also donned the hat of a producer with her upcoming thriller NH10, which has already grossed its production budget of Rs 13 crore, and is on its way to becoming a blockbuster hit. She reportedly charges Rs 5 crore per film.
By Neeraj Varty
