Money, money...

Wed, Jul 16 01:45 AM

He has staked his claim as Bollywood's biggest actor with a reported fee of Rs 50 crore. "I am by far the highest paid actor," said Salman Khan.

Though he refused to reveal the figure, he hinted at it: "As long as I have fans, I'll charge three times the highest amount in the industry." But despite weekly reports about the growing number of A-list heroes to be associated with multi-crore movie deals, industry honchos say the figures are exaggerated.

"It's an absolute myth," says Sandeep Bhargava, CEO, Studio 18. "No businessman would invest a sum of money that is not recoverable.

Yes, Bollywood is expanding and the money has grown manifold, but the figures are still irrational." Salman was reportedly offered Rs 50 crore for a film by T-Series.

While Bhushan Kumar of T-series says "talks are still on", a source from the company reveals, "We are keen to sign Salman. He commands amazing box office power and given his popularity, is in a place to ask for a suitable price.

" Astronomical remunerations first made headlines with Aamir Khan and Gajini, then Akshay's film with Venus. SRK and Hrithik Roshan also reportedly make multi-crore film deals.

Shailendra Singh of Percept Picture Limited says, "if an actor charged Rs 50 crore, the film's budget would touch Rs 100 crore, still a huge figure in Bollywood today." So where are the numbers coming from? A corporate head says, "Actors co-produce movies and take overseas and intellectual property sharing rights.

This ups their pay by another Rs 10 to 20 crore. But Rs 50 crore only for performance is unreal.

RECOMMEND THIS STORY