Salman’s paycheck is bigger than Amitabh’s

Salman Khan may have stepped into Amitabh Bachchan’s shoes as host of “Bigg Boss”, but he certainly is the bigger star, going by the size of his, er, paycheck.

Khan’s per-episode fee on the Indian version of the “Big Brother” reality television franchise, it has now emerged, is between Rs35 million and Rs50m.

Compare that with Bachchan’s Rs16m fee per episode on the fourth season of “Kaun Banega Crorepati?”, the local version of “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”

Bachchan takes home a Rs576m for the entire season of 36 episodes, while Khan is expected to walk away with anywhere between Rs600m and Rs700m for only about 14 episodes – a lot less work.

But Khan’s move to the new show has enabled him to command thrice the approximately Rs15m he was pocketing for “Dus Ka Dum”.

Over the course of the season, he will take home between Rs600m and Rs700m, Indian newspapers said.

Vikas Kapoor, Khan’s manager, without accepting or denying the figures, says that the actor is being paid more than he was to earn for “Dus Ka Dum”.

“As a policy matter, I cannot disclose the amount he has been signed on for, but it is definitely a more lucrative offer for him,” the Hindustan Times quoted him as saying.

However, the fate of “Dus Ka Dum” remains uncertain. Kapoor said: “Talks are on with Sony Entertainment. You can hope for Dus Ka Dum 3 to return with Salman, but nothing can be confirmed right now.”

But through it all, Shah Rukh Khan’s status as King Khan remained untouched – at least in the salary stakes.

The Hindustan Times said the box-office superstar was offered Rs50m per episode of “Bigg Boss”, but an internal poll led Colors, the station airing the show, to zero in on Khan.

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