Rajkummar Rao on fee hike after Stree 2 success: Not stupid to burden producers

Actor Rajkummar Rao has addressed reports suggesting that he has been charging Rs 5 crore per film following the success of Stree 2. In a recent interview, Rajkummar stated that he is not “stupid to burden my producers” and described money as “just a byproduct” of his passion. Stree 2, which released in August, has been a major success.
Addressing reports of fee hike, Rajkummar told Indian Express, “I read different figures every day. I’m not stupid to burden my producers. Being a part of the biggest blockbuster is not going to change me as an actor, money is just a byproduct of my passion. I want to work all my life so I keep looking for roles that surprise me, excite me, challenge and help me grow.”
A report from August claimed that Rajkummar Rao charged Rs 6 crore for his role in Stree 2, while co-star Shraddha Kapoor charged Rs 5 crore.
The 40-year-old actor appeared on Unfiltered With Samdish last month and shared that he can’t randomly afford a luxury car worth Rs 5-6 crore like other Bollywood actors. He said in Hindi, “Yaar, honestly itna paisa hai nahi jitna logon ko lagta hoga ki ye toh bhai 100 crore. Itna nahi hai [Honestly, I don’t own this kind of money. I don’t have as much money as people believe I have. I don’t have Rs 100 crore].”
Stree 2, directed by Amar Kaushik, emerged as the highest-grossing film of the year. The horror-comedy follows the story of a villain named Sarkata, who terrorises the people of Chanderi, prompting them to seek help from Stree. The film also had special appearances by Akshay Kumar and Varun Dhawan, apart from Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee.