India’s highest-paid lyricist charges Rs 25 lakh per song; it's not Gulzar, Manoj Muntashir, Varun Grover, Irshad Kamil

Musicians were integral to Hindi films ever since talkies began in India in 1931. Songs played an important part in most big films ever since commercial cinema came to the fore in the 40s. But musicians and writers were not always paid in accordance with the value they generated for the films. That changed soon, though. Today, music composers, singers, and even lyricists charge in lakhs per song. The highest-paid of them takes over a crore for just one film.

India’s highest paid lyricist is…

Javed Akhtar is the highest-paid lyricist in India, having taken over the mantle from the veteran Gulzar just last year. As per Film Information, the lyricist was paid Rs 25 lakh to write ‘Nikle The Hum Kabhi Ghar Se’ in Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki. In December, while hosting a show called Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaun. Akhtar recounted the story of how he came on board for the song, “I usually don’t write just one track in the film. Raju Hirani sahab asked me to write lyrics of just one song. I declined but he insisted. I kept unreasonable terms in front of him (hoping that he’d be discouraged)’. Without batting an eyelid, he agreed to those terms,” the lyricist said. For writing this one song, the lyricist received a separate credit on screen.

Other highest-paid lyricists in India

Till last year, Gulzar was the highest-paid lyricist in the country, charging Rs 20 lakh per song at the age of 88. Like Javed Akhtar, Gulzar seldom writes only one song for a film, preferring to write all the songs in any project. Javed Akhtar, who reportedly charges Rs 15 lakh per song usually, had been on the second spot till 2023.

The other names in the top 10 are mostly ‘younger’ writers. CBFC Chairperson and writer Prasoon Joshi comes at the third spot after the two veterans, charging Rs 10 lakh per song. Composer Vishal Dadlani also earns the same amount for every song he writes. Irshad Kamil, who earns Rs 8-9 lakh for every song he writes, rounds up the top five. Amitabh Bhattacharya follows him with earnings of around Rs 7-8 lakh per song. Swanand Kirkire sits at number seven, earning Rs 5-6 lakh per song. Rounding off the top 10 are Jaideep Sahni, Sameer Anjaan, and Anwar Faiz, all of whom charge Rs 5 lakh per song.

The DNA app is now available for download on the Google Play Store. Please download the app and share your feedback with us.