Every time, a film or series does well, curiosity around the salaries of actors involved make it to the internet. A similar trend was noticed when Prime Video released Panchayat. With each passing season, the show expanded its reach and popularity, creating a buzz around the fees of the actors in the show. Soon several media publications speculated their salaries.
A report by Business Standards shared Jitendra Kumar is the highest paid actor and charges Rs 70,000 per episode while Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav earn Rs 50,000 and Rs 40,000, respectively for each episode. Several media reports also shared that actors Faisal Malik and Chandan Roy charge about Rs 20,000 per episode. The same figures were also reported last year when season 3 was released.
According to these reports, Jitendra’s total earning stand at Rs 5.6 lakh each for season 3 and season 4. Similarly, Neena Gupta’s total earning for the season stands at Rs 4 lakh and Rs 3.2 lakh for actor Raghubir Yadav, respectively. However, fans are not convinced with these numbers with many questioning ‘isn’t it too less for the talents they are?’
Now, Faisal Malik aka Prahlad Cha has shared the process of payments. He recalled the first time he was approached for the series. In The Raunac Podcast, the actor shared, “The discussion about money starts after you agree to do the project.” Without revealing his salary, the actor said, “Sab acha tha (All was well).”
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He then explained, “Theek thaak hai. Jo hai acha hi ho raha hai. Ab dekhiye iske aage kya hota hai. Abhi tak toh sab acha hai bhai (Salary was fine. All is going well. Let’s see if anything changes in future. So far, everything has been fine).”
He then explained how the makers decide on payments. He shared, “Payments happen in various ways. Some pay on per day basis, some pay the total. Ideally, the structure that the corporates are following today: They divide salaries per day wise. They divide your fees with the number of days you are going to work on the project. Then they convert it into installments. They pay certain amount at the time of signing. Then starting of the shoot, followed by middle of the shoot, end of the shoot, end of dubbing and eventually after release. They pay in about five segments. This takes over a year. Until your show is not released, you don’t receive your final payment.”
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Unlike the rumours, Faisal shared makers increase actor’s fees only if it is mentioned in the contract they sign initially. “They increase your fees only if you have made them write it in your contact. The performance of the show doesn’t really change anything.” Faisal laughed as he added, “I had added this clause in my contact. Sab acha hai (All is well).”
In 2024, when reports of the actors’ fees surfaced online, fans took it to Reddit to have a discussion around the same. Sharing screenshots of articles claiming the actors’ fees, a Reddit user wrote, “Reported salaries of the cast of Panchayat. Isn’t it too less for the talents of Jitu, Neena ji and Raghubir ji, especially when compared the overpaid flop actors? I really thought web series earn more.”
Another user pointed out that actors like Ali Faizal and Manoj Bajpayee were paid in crores. The user wrote, “Is this for real? Jitendra Kumar was paid only 70K per episode and he is the highest paid cast member of Panchayat. For the context, Ali Faizal was paid Rs 12 lakh per episode of Mirzapur. Do they get other perks or something?”
These posts prompted many responses with many refusing to believe these reports. A user commented, “Not possible.” Another user joked, “Isse zyada to Jeetu bhaiya tuition se kama lete hai.” Meanwhile, other comments suggested, “That’s for season one. Read somewhere that for Season 3 is 10 Lakh.”
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Another comment read, “I remember in some interview few years back jitendra spoke about how he gets paid in few lakhs now, so most probably after S2 which was a massive hit he’ll be making 5 lakh per episode. The show is in top 3 on prime, after Family Man and Mirzapur.”
The Economics Times reported that Ali Fazal received Rs 12 lakh per episode of Mirzapur. Meanwhile, several media publications claimed that Manoj Bajpayee was paid a total of Rs 10 crore for Family Man Season 2.
Last Year, Jitendra had addressed the rumours around his salary for the show and told India Today, “Well, I think discussing somebody’s salary and financial matters is really unfair. Nothing good comes out of the discussion, and it’s not even fruitful. So, I think one should avoid falling for any such rumours, they should not be a thing.”
