Actor Rajinikanth’s last film Darbar bombed at the box office, his salary for the next film with Sun Pictures has been halved.

Sun Pictures, which is bankrolling actor Rajinikanth’s next Tamil film, has decided to cut the salary of the veteran star by half following Darbar’s failure. Darbar, directed by AR Murugadoss, had incurred losses of Rs 70 crore. It’s said to be one of the biggest disasters of Rajinikanth’s career.

According to a trade source, Kalanithi Maran of Sun Pictures recently met Rajinikanth and convinced him to take a pay cut following Darbar’s heavy losses. “Maran met Rajinikanth on the sets of their new film last week. Following the failure of Darbar, Maran requested Rajinikanth to take a pay cut and when the latter was surprised by the decision, Maran was even ready to shelve the project. After much deliberation, Rajinikanth agreed to cut his salary by half. After being paid Rs 118 crore (including GST) for Darbar, Sun Pictures offered to pay Rs 58 crore (including GST),” a source said.

Darbar featured Rajinikanth in the role of an angry cop who sets out to avenge his daughter. The film marked the maiden collaboration of Rajinikanth and filmmaker AR Murugadoss, who is best known for helming Ghajini and Kaththi. It marked the return of Rajinikanth in the role of a cop after 25 years.

Darbar also starred Nayanthara, Suniel Shetty, Prateik Babbar, Nivetha Thomas and Yogi Babu in key roles. The film has music by Anirudh Ravichander while Santosh Sivan has cranked the camera. The shoot of Rajinikanth’s film with director Siva is currently underway. The yet-untitled family drama also stars Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Khushbu and Meena in important roles. The project has music by D Imman and being bankrolled by Sun Pictures.

Siva, known for films such as Veeram and Viswasam, has teamed up with Rajinikanth for the first time. The film is tipped to be a rural-based action drama.