Shah Rukh Khan’s reported payday from Pathaan is turning into the biggest example of a quiet shift happening at the top of Bollywood — stars giving up their usual upfront fees and betting on a slice of the profits instead.
According to industry reports cited by Filmibeat, Khan skipped a conventional acting fee for Pathaan and instead took a significant share of the film’s profits. The film went on to collect around ₹1,050 crore worldwide, and reports estimate Khan’s eventual earnings from the deal at close to ₹200 crore. Had he taken a standard upfront fee, that number would have been fixed regardless of how the film performed. Instead, his payout scaled up along with the film’s success.
CineNow chairman Rohit Dalmia, speaking to Filmibeat, said this profit-participation approach is becoming more common among India’s top stars. Aamir Khan has followed a similar model for years, reportedly preferring to earn from a film’s box-office performance rather than taking a large fee before release. Yash is being cited as another example, with his growing role as co-producer on big-ticket projects like Ramayana and Toxic pointing to actors becoming financial stakeholders rather than just performers on payroll.
The shift makes sense for producers too. On a big-budget film, moving a large chunk of a star’s compensation from a fixed fee to profit share frees up cash that can instead go into production, VFX, marketing or distribution — important as more Indian films are being made with budgets running into hundreds of crores.
This change is also coming at a time when the numbers involved in Indian cinema are bigger than ever. As reported in the Ormax Box Office Report 2025, India’s box office crossed ₹13,000 crore in a single year for the first time, touching ₹13,395 crore, with Hindi cinema alone contributing a record ₹5,504 crore. Thirty-seven films crossed the ₹100 crore mark in 2025, compared to 22 the year before.
With films now earning across theatres, OTT, satellite rights, music and international markets, a single film has more ways to make money than before — and that gives stars more reason to bet on the film’s long-term earnings rather than lock in a one-time fee. As Dalmia put it, the industry is moving toward talent becoming co-owners of the intellectual property they help create, not just performers hired for a project.
