Chi Chi gets pricey!

It really pays to have Salman Khan for a friend. Govinda should know. After all, it was Sallu who brought the out-of-work actor back on the B-town radar by offering him a part in his home production, Partner.

Before that, Chi Chi had been sitting at home twiddling his thumbs and hadn't signed a film in two years. Khan apparently recommended him to director Nikhil Advani for Salaam-E-Ishq too.

Now that he has revived Govinda's sagging career, Salman is going one step further to ensure that Chi Chi returns on par with top stars in the industry as far as money is concerned.

Salman has pencilled in Govinda for a role in his brother Sohail Khan's film, Main Aur Mrs Khanna, for an astounding fee of Rs 1.5 crore!

Price perfect

Although the news is very hush-hush right now, an insider tells us, "No one will consider paying Govinda Rs 1.5 crore; he himself would not quote such a flattering amount for a film, but Salman has decided to raise the bar and pay him that amount.

Thanks to that, Govinda has now regained confidence and is considering using that as his asking price."

Last year, when Govinda had spoken to HiTLIST, he had mentioned how he was no longer getting the price he wanted for doing films. Now, a senior filmmaker who is in talks with him for a film says, "Those days are now well behind him.

Today, many producers want him in their projects. He came back with a bang in Salaam-E-Ishq and was arguably the best among all the others in the film.

He's now creating waves with the promos of Partner, so why shouldn't Govinda ask for anything less than Rs 1.5 crore when lesser actors are getting that or more?"

Wooing Ayesha

Meanwhile, Sohail Khan prefers to keep mum on the details. When we ask him about Main Aur Mrs Khanna, he says, "Nothing is finalised." As for Govinda getting Rs 1.5 crore for it, he simply says, "Super!"

The source tells us that Ayesha Takia is the frontrunner for Mrs Khanna's role. Buzz is that Preity Zinta and Katrina Kaif too were considered for the role. If all goes well, Ayesha will be starring opposite Salman for the first time.

Besides Govinda and Salman, Main Aur Mrs Khanna also stars Sohail. Prem Soni, who was previously a creative director with Star India, will direct the film.