With the popular reality TV show "Bigg Boss 13" getting an extension, superstar and host Salman Khan has also reportedly got a pay hike. Uncomnfirmed reports state he will be getting Rs 8.5 crore per episode, which marks a hike of Rs 2 crore from what he was earlier taking home.
Several reports claim that the Salman was getting Rs 6.5 crore per episode earlier, and a two-crore hike per episode would mean the Bollywood superstar will be taking home over Rs 200 crore for the entire season.
"Bigg Boss 13" was originally set to conclude in January. It is being reported that the show has been extended by another five weeks, and the finale will now be aired in February.
According to a report in Bollywood Hungama, Colors channel, which airs the show, and "Bigg Boss" producers Endemol, agreed to pay Salman an extra two-crore per episode to have him continue as host.
"Salman had made it very clear that he didn't want to extend his stint on 'Bigg Boss' owing to other film commitments such as the post-production of 'Dabangg 3', and the shoot of 'Radhe'. However Colors lured him to stay on by adding the zeroes on his paycheque," said a source.
The source also claimed that Salman gets a bigger paycheck to come back as host every year.
"Each year he initially refuses to return to 'Bigg Boss', and every time he is lured back with an enhanced remuneration. He gets paid more to anchor 'Bigg Boss' per season than all the other anchors in regional languages put together get for all the seasons put together," the source added.
"Bigg Boss 13" features only celebrity contestants, with Arti Singh, Asim Riaz, Devoleena Bhattacharjee, Himanshi Khurana, Mahira Sharma, Paras Chhabra, Rashami Desai, Shefali Jariwala, Shehnaz Gill, Sidharth Shukla, Vikas Fhatak (Hindustani Bhau) and Vishal Aditya Singh fighting to win the trophy.