Star India signs Rs 450 cr deal with Salman for movie satellite rights: report

Mumbai: India's major entertainment channel Star India has signed a deal with Bollywood star Salman Khan that will effectively make the channel the only satellite vehicle for any movie he makes in the next five years. According to The Economic Times, the 47-year-old star confirmed the deal, but declined to share details. The deal is estimated to be in the range of Rs 450cr to Rs 500 cr, the first of its kind in Bollywood. The report said, the contract will include all his films over the next five years after last month's Dabangg2. "It is reasonably long and big," said Star India's Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Gupta. Salman Khan will do five films - Sajid Nadiadwala's Kick , brother Sohail Khan's next film, Boney Kapoor's sequel to No Entry , Dabangg3 as well as Sooraj Barjatya's next movie. Star already holds a strong portfolio of Salman Khan's films - Dabangg, Wanted, Ready, Bodyguard, Tere Naam, Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya - for 7-8 years, and Dabangg2, which it bagged for Rs 50 crore for 11 years a year before its release. Just like his recent box office record, Khan's satellite ratings have been impressive. Bodyguard registered a record television rating points (TRP) of 10.3 when it was aired on Star Gold in December 2011. TRP is a measure of what percentage of people in a defined time band and a defined profile watched a particular programme, a number keenly followed by the advertising industry. A film is considered a success on TV if it can notch up an average 2.5 TRP through the year, apart from the high number it garners on premieres. Over the past few years, there has been tremendous competition among entertainment channels to acquire the satellite rights of blockbuster moviews. Hrithik Roshan's Krissh3 and the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Don2 were reportedly sold to Sony for Rs 37 crore each, while Aamir Khan's Talaash and Karan Johar's Agneepath went for Rs 40 crore. Channels usually spend an average of Rs 200-300 crore a year to acquire film titles for their libraries.