South India’s richest actor is richer than even Salman-Aamir, has ₹3500 crore net worth; not Rajinikanth, Prabhas, Vijay
Gone are the days when the south Indian film industries were considered the poor cousins of Hindi cinema. Over the last decade, the Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam film industries have routinely beaten Hindi films at the box office.
This has also led to a growth in the stature of south stars, some of whom are now rivalling top Bollywood superstars in terms of wealth. The richest star from down south is actually wealthier than most of Bollywood.
South India’s richest actor
Telugu superstar Nagarjuna Akkineni is currently the richest South Indian actor. According to Moneycontrol, Nagarjuna has a net worth of $410 million (over ₹3572 crore), making him one of the richest actors in all of India, only behind Shah Rukh and Juhi Chawla. Nagarjuna’s immense wealth makes him even wealthier than A-list Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan ( ₹3200 crore), Hrithik Roshan ( ₹3100 crore), Salman Khan ( ₹2900 crore), Akshay Kumar ( ₹2700 crore) and Aamir Khan ( ₹1900 crore).
Among actors from the four south industries, Nagarjuna is followed by his contemporary Chiranjeevi, who has a reported net worth of ₹1650 crore. Other extremely rich south stars are Ram Charan ( ₹1370 crore), Kamal Haasan ( ₹600 crore), Rajinikanth ( ₹500 crore), Jr NTR ( ₹500 crore), and Prabhas ( ₹250 crore).
How Nagarjuna made his millions
Nagarjuna has been among the most successful actors in Telugu cinema, but he was never the topmost star. That tag belonged to Chiranjeevi for the longest time, before Prabhas and Ram Charan usurped him. Yet, Nagarjuna is richer than all of them combined. This is through a combination of smart business investments and inheritance.
Nagarjuna has built his fortune not just from films but also from investments in other businesses, including real estate, cinema, and sports franchises. Nagarjuna owns the Annapurna Studios, one of Tollywood’s biggest production houses and studios. He also owns N3 Realty Enterprises, a real estate and construction firm. As per Dainik Bhaskar, the value of all real estate owned by Nagarjuna is around ₹900 crore. In addition, Nagarjuna also owns three sports franchises, apart from several luxurious items such as a private jet and over half a dozen luxury cars.
Nagarjuna has also had a stellar career in films, leading blockbusters like Mass, Siva, Don, and Manam, among others. He has also worked in Hindi films like Khuda Gawah, Criminal, Zakhm, and Brahmastra.