I mentioned in my kickoff post that my company has pivoted at least four times. One of those pivots involved a stint as Bollywood producers. We had the chance to work on several award-winning productions and stars though it became clear to me that my company’s immediate future lay outside of the industry.

Still, it was an incredible experience that taught me a lot.

There’s A Lot Less Money Than You Think

The Shahrukh Khan movie Jawan was a superhit blockbuster that grossed ₹1,148.32 Crore. At the time it was the second highest in all of Indian entertainment history.

Converted to US Dollars using the exchange rate at the time, that means this era defining financial blockbuster grossed…$139 million. Or about as much as Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which was released in the same year. The Hollywood Reporter called the box office collections of the Shazam sequel “dismal”.

And remember that’s the very best that Bollywood has ever done.

Think of all the other movies that were made in India that year…that decade. How many of them made any kind of “real” money?

Even the $139 million that Jawan made is a lot less than it sounds. Copilot suggests that 55% of that would have been kept by the movie theaters. So the movie producers made $76 million. Copilot further estimates that $37 million would have gone into production (excluding actor salaries) and another $10 million would have gone into marketing. So that leaves $29 million for the actors, directors, writers, and investors.

And I know I’m repeating myself but it’s important to appreciate – we’re talking about the best that Shahrukh Khan, “King Khan”, the Baadshah of Bollywood, the most successful actor in Indian cinematic history, has ever done!

Think of all the hundreds of names that show up in the credits of a movie. After you subtract what the top stars are making how much does everybody else really make? Especially given that other movies aren’t anywhere near as successful as Jawan!

This Is Why Bollywood Tries To Cater To A Western Audience

Why was the Ramayana trailer released in both English and Hindi? Why did its producers get Hans Zimmer on board? Why are they trying to get the media to talk about it in the same breath as The Odyssey or Dune? Because all the money lies in international markets.

If a box office disaster like Shazam can outgross the very best that Bollywood has done, producers will do whatever they can to get even a small amount of Hollywood’s gold dust to rub off on their production.

You’ll Continue To Find Comparisons To Western Films Underwhelming

Here’s another comparison for you: The first Season of House of the Dragon reportedly cost $200 million. That is to say the budget of a small screen TV show sequel in America is more than what India’s biggest, most successful big-screen financial blockbusters can earn in revenue.

Why is it that the VFX, sets, and overall production quality are often so much better in American films? Especially given that much of the computer animation work is ultimately outsourced to India? Because Western productions have budgets to afford it. It’d be a financial catastrophe for Indian producers to invest the kind of resources into a project that Western producers are able to.

Stars Work With The Press To Mislead

I learnt that movie stars in India often “leak” to the press how much they were paid for a movie. But the number they leak is fake. They’ll deliberately quote a much higher rate than what they’re actually being paid…especially when they’re in the middle of negotiating a new project.

Unsurprisingly Indian Movies Don’t Often Win International Acclaim

With each Indian movie being worth so little, for actors it typically makes more sense to focus on quantity instead of quality. Akshay Kumar released as many films in 2025 as Tom Cruise did in the nine years between 2017 and 2025. An actor’s time is limited – at best they can shoot 365 days a year. Realistically it’s a lot less – it’s unlikely schedules will work out in a way that allows them to optimize their availability. So if a director wants to re-do a scene because they had a stroke of artistic genius, it’s more likely than not they won’t be able to get the actor to show up for the retake, because the actor has already committed those dates to another project.

The financial reality of the industry means that it’s unlikely that the Indian entertainment industry will produce the kind of artistic films that win international acclaim and awards – at least until Indian cinema becomes a lot more lucrative than it is.

That’s Why There Are So Many Brand Endorsements

Just like cricketers make far more money from ads than they do from playing cricket, so actors’ livelihood depends on ad shoots. An actor can often earn as much in a day of shooting for a brand, as they would in an entire month of shooting a movie.

The stars I worked with were a little beyond doing “item numbers” but I would similarly imagine that the financial rewards of doing them, compared to the time commitment involved, make them enticing.

The phenomenon of actors doing side gigs such as ads isn’t unique to India….though perhaps the ability to get top Bollywood stars to perform at your wedding is. That may, however, say more about the amounts that Indians are willing to spend on weddings compared to those abroad.

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Read part 2 here. I should note while I use Jawan as an example my company wasn’t involved with the production of that film (or any other film I’ve mentioned here or in the next post). I’ve also used a photo of Shahrukh Khan, and while I was lucky enough to go past the dressing room at Yash Raj Studios that he was in a couple times, I’ve never met him or directly worked with him.