AR Rahman has been the most famous and well-paid music artist in the country for many years. His records have often been big hits, which lets him charge crores per movie. But in 2023, a young upstart who charged nine figures for a single job beat him to the title of India’s highest-paid musician. He did all of this when he was 33 years old. (See also: The highest-paid TV star in the world doesn’t act but gets $75 million a year, more than Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, and Chris Pratt.)
The best-paid singer in India
Anirudh Ravichander is the highest-paid music producer in India and, by extension, the highest-paid musician. He is best known for writing music for Tamil movies like Jailer, Petta, Master, and Vikram. Anirudh’s first work in Bollywood was the music for Shah Rukh Khan’s movie Jawan, which came out in 2023. News 18 said that the composer charged ₹10 crore for the movie, which is more than AR Rahman’s usual ₹7-8 crore fees for each movie. One important thing is that Anirudh lowered his fees for his next movies. The Times of India said that he charged ₹8 crore for both Leo and Jailer. He is still India’s highest-paid musician, though.
How Anirudh beat the best
Tamil movie music has gotten a new sound thanks in large part to Anirudh. The musician is known to play around with techno music and use actors’ real-life selves in the background score for their roles. This helped him write music for big stars like Shah Rukh Khan (in Jawan), Kamal Haasan (in Vikram), Vijay (in Master and Leo), and Rajinikanth (in Petta and Jailer). Lots of stars, like SRK, Rajini, and Vijay, have made him a part of their “camps.” He is now more well-known in the business because some of his songs, like “Hukum from Jailer,” have become hits for celebrities. The musician can charge more now that the score is so popular. Anirudh then charged ₹10 crore for a movie when he was 33 years old.
There are more Indian music artists who charge less than ₹5 crore per film. They are Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar, MM Keeravani, and Yuvan Shankar Raja. For singers, the pay is even less: ₹15–20 lakh per song, and it rarely goes over a crore for a movie. Singers can make over a crore for private records, which is something Diljit Dosanjh does all the time.
