The price structure for Bollywood stars’ presence on television threatens to hit the roof and go beyond. But are these prices even worth considering as feasible?
No, say Channel insiders who don’t want to be named for obvious reasons. Colors which hosts the dance-reality show Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa officially maintains a discreet silence over reports of Jacqueline Fernandez’s 1-crore-per-day fee.
Unofficial sources pooh-pooh the claim as “publicity overdrive”
“Let’s just say, the price being thrown around is highly implausible. She is paid a lot less than that amount, for sure. But then, it doesn’t hurt her career if it is broadcast that she gets 1 crore every day for her appearance as a judge on a dance-reality show. It’s an impressive figure and a nice reference point for her fees as an actress in future feature film,” says the sources.
Jacqueline is not isolated in the overzealous market evaluation.
Several other A-list stars have lately been written about for getting grossly inflated fees for television deals. Hrithik Roshan has supposedly been paid Rs. 550 crores for a 5 -film deal on Star Plus. Salman Khan has reportedly snagged a whopping Rs. 1,000 crore deal for 10 films. Both the incredible deals are said to have been done with the Star channel.
However sources close to the development completely dismiss these figures as “wildly exaggerated”.
Says a well-informed source, “We don’t know who is leaking out these false numbers. They are unrealistic to the point of being preposterous. The stars themselves are certainly not responsible for spreading these unbelievable numbers, as such inflated figures makes them look delusional. These are figures being sneaked in by people who are certain they can get away with it. But anyone with even a basic knowledge of the financial reality of the entertainment world would know how outrageous it is to suggest Rs. 550 and Rs. 1000 crores as fees for satellite rights.”
This source informs that there are two categories of films purchasable for Satellite. “Category A and Category B depending on the production budget of the film.”
