He may be buried deep in legal woes, but on the professional front, it seems that Salman Khan is riding very high. The 47-year-old actor will be once again breaking records, as he is set to become the highest paid actor on television -- with a salary of Rs 130 crore.
Sources within the industry say that Khan, who was being paid a whopping Rs 2.5 crore per episode to host Bigg Boss Season 6, will now be paid Rs 5 crore per episode for Season 7.
This year, the reality television show produced by Colors and first developed by Endemol, will see the star in a double role, as the show's concept is of heaven and hell. Salman, who will appear for a total of 26 episodes, will be portraying the roles of angel and devil.
A source told MiD DAY, "This year Salman has charged a substantial amount as he has a double role. So, the shooting takes more time and the concept is different. He will shoot two episodes in a day per week." When asked why he would be shooting two episodes a day, the source added, "He wants to finish shooting before the trial for his 2002 hit-and-run case draws to a close." The trial will begin on August 19.
Ad rates to soar?
With Salman's stock rising and him receiving a big fat chunk of change, talks are swirling about the company recovering costs and the effect it will have on advertising during the show. While the main sponsor of the show was Vodafone last year, this year the company is still in talks with few major players.
According to another source, "The company will hike the ad rates because it's a premium show which is extremely popular with a large scale family audience, which caters to almost every product in advertising. People love to watch the show and it also garners a high TRP rating so word is that Colors will hike the ad rates."
When MiD DAY contacted Colors, a spokesperson from the parent company Viacom said, "As a policy we do not comment on artist's remunerations." He added about advertising, "The show has just been announced, so it's too early to talk about the concept and the company is still in talks with other companies regarding sponsorship."
From Big Brother to Bigg Boss
Big Brother is a reality television show, which was first developed by Endemol in Netherlands. The first show of Big Brother was broadcast in 1999. In 2007, Shilpa Shetty won in the offshoot called Celebrity Big Brother in UK. Bigg Boss is the Indian edition of the Big Brother show and started in 2006 on Sony TV and then switched to Colors in 2008.
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