New Delhi, Aug 03: Bollywood stars are raking in the moolah thanks to the film industry becoming star dependent with sole objective of recovering the investment, feels lyricist and ad guru Prasoon Joshi.

The growth in fees charged by actors like Salman Khan and Akshay kumar has been phenomenal. They have reportedly been charging several crores.

Explaining the reason behind this recent surge in actor`s fees, Joshi says, "The industry has become star dependent. Everyone wants recovery of his investment and working with stars becomes the safe bet".

Prasoon, known for his soulful lyrics, also sees lack of good scripts as one of the reasons, along with `playing safe` attitude of filmmakers. "No body wants to take the risk" he rues.

"There is more and more money coming in the market ever since the corporate world has entered the world of cinema," says the lyricist who won Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for 2007 and 2008 consecutively.

"Also, the actors are aware of the fact that they can ask for more money" he adds.

Not only the biggies but the newcomers are also playing in crores. One flop film old Ranbir Kapoor, who is currently working with the big-wigs of the industry, charges around Rs 3 crores, if film industry sources are to be believed.

"No hard work and aiming for quick money seems to have become the motto of filmmakers at the moment," says Joshi.

Bureau Report