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In this concluding part of the Star Bucks series, we focus on the character actors and people behind-the-scenes.

What the others earn…

Character actors, however beloved they may become to their public, also can't charge a producer too much - with the exception of Amitabh Bachchan who does only character roles these days, but continues to be seen as a hero. Bachchan charges Rs. 2.5 crore, but that's because of his continued superstar status.

Character actors, generally, are paid in lakhs. After the success of Phir Hera Pheri, for which he was largely responsible, Paresh Rawal now demands a crore. But he's the only one. Amrish Puri, at the height of his career, only went up to Rs. 75 lakhs. And actors like Kim Sharma, Payal Rohatgi, Isha Koppikar, Sachin Khedekar and Sanjay Suri get anything between Rs. 5 and 25 lakhs. In fact, the salaries of the entire supporting cast added together often constitutes less than the total fees of the two lead actors in the film. And when the film is big budget one, the salaries of the lead actors and top technicians could comprise 40 percent of the total budget of the film.

Dalal street dealings

The new 'spoilers' on the scene are the corporate production houses. Flush with public funds, they don't bat an eyelid before paying obscenely high fees to the stars. And it isn't just the stars who get the moolah in good measure. Directors are also in for a good time, thanks to corporatisation. We hear, for instance, that post Fanaa, Kunal Kohli was offered a film by a corporate house for a directorial fee of Rs 5 crores!

Frankly, directors have never had it as good as now, thanks to corporatisation. The other reason for directors being able to command such fat fees is that most of the topline directors have their own banners and they make films only for their own companies. There are very few makers like David Dhawan, who have resisted the temptation to turn producer, and are open to directing for other banners. Rajkumar Santoshi charged Rs. 4 crores for Khakee even though his precious four films were commercial flops. As an industry wag remarked, "Maybe he wanted a crore for every dabba film he delivered before Khakee!”

But still, since the corporates are willing to pay, filmmakers are willing to be paid. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a producer himself, but Sony/Columbia are his co-producers for his new flick, Saawariya. Ashutosh Gowariker did the same thing two years ago, when UTV funded his Shah Rukh starrer, Swades. Ashutosh got Rs 40 million for his direction of Swades, but Bhansali is being paid Rs 100 million for Saawariya.

Behind the scenes

What about the other people involved in the making of a film? The people behind the music, for instance. Well, the scene is none too brilliant, though it seems to be picking up. Himesh Reshammiya has changed the ruled of the music industry. He's the only Bollywood composer to earn more than Rs. 30 lakhs for his work. This is his personal fee - the musicians, singers and so on, are paid by the producer.

But then Himesh today is a star. His music sells, and how! That may also be why Himesh gets a share in the audio sales of his films, from the audio company T-Series. The music cassettes and CDs of almost all the films for which he scores music are released by T-Series.

Other music directors generally work on a different formula. They charge for the entire music recording. But the maximum money they must take as their share can't be more than Rs 10 to 15 lakhs. A R Rahman works on a profit-sharing basis. He records all the songs - which means he bears the expenses of his singers, musicians, recording room and so on, himself. But his deal with the producer means that he gets 50 percent of the amount for which the producers sells the audio rights of the film.

While it's said that the script is the backbone of a film, writers are the least paid. The scriptwriter duo Salim-Javed were the first pen-pushers to make such an impact on the industry that their names featured on the banners and posters of their films. But they never got much money. Rs. 40 lakhs is the highest a writer can charge. Neeraj Vora, who wrote and directed Phir Hera Pheri, and Anjum Rajab Ali, writer of The Legend Of Bhagat Singh, fall in the topmost bracket. On the other hand, top lyricists like Gulzar and Javed Akhtar charge Rs 1.5 to 2.5 lakhs per song. Another popular song writer, Sameer, takes home Rs 25,000 to 30,000 for a song. Too little, you think? Well, he does write for a song! Jokes apart, Sameer writes hundred of songs a year, so what he loses on individual songs, he makes up in volumes.

Songs are written by the lyricists, recorded by the music director and pasteurized by the choreographer, also known as the dance director. The highest paid choreographer today is Farah Khan, who turned director with Main Hoon Naa. She charges Rs 4 to 5 lakhs to make stars dance to the music director's tunes. Others, like Saroj Khan and Vaibhavi Merchant, get around Rs 1 to 1.5 lakh for their choreography.

Like all the other people behind the camera apart from the director, are the men who literally stand behind the camera - the cameramen. 'A' grade names like Anil Mehta, Ravi Chandran, Binod Pradhan and Ashok Mehta earn around Rs 40 to 50 lakhs. So far, there's no record of any film producer paying Rs 75 lakhs to his lensman. It's believed, though, that Vipul Shah, who's engaged the services of Hollywood director of photography Peter Field, could be paying him the highest ever fee - apparently more than a crore. Which is similar to what Rakesh Roshan paid Tony Chinag, his action director, for the death-defying stunts in Krrish.

Now that you know how much our star technicians get paid, your next question is obviously : What do they do with so much money?

We'd also like to know!