If his tax figures are any indication, Shah Rukh Khan , the Badshah of Bollywood, is an even bigger king of the advertising world.
The King Khan has paid an advance tax of Rs.270 million on his estimated income during the financial year 2007-08, a major share of which has gone into paying for his income from endorsing a slew of products.
Sources in the advertising agency for which the superstar has worked reveal that his income from endorsements fetches him Rs.1.5 billion a year, the highest for any Indian advertising "model".
Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan though endorses more products than SRK, his earnings from annual endorsements do not cross Rs.1.2 billion.
Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, earn a little less than Rs.1 billion each from advertising assignments annually. The rest of the Bollywood "models" are all in the Rs.50- million-income bracket.
Industry observers say SRK is going to maintain his top position in the advertising world as well for some more years as there is no one yet who can rival his charisma.
The King Khan's earnings from endorsements stand at a notch much above the emoluments that he gets for starring in movies, which, according to his own admission, never goes beyond Rs.50-60 million per assignment.
A big chunk of his income in the current fiscal also came from hosting STAR Plus' "Kaun Banega Crorepati - 2" quiz series for which he received Rs.10 million per episode.
Additionally, SRK also made a quick profit of Rs.400 million by selling the world distribution rights of his home production Om Shanti Om to Eros International for Rs.750 million as against the production cost of Rs.350 million.
The profit that he earned from the deal was apart from the remuneration of Rs.50 million that he gave to himself for leading the cast in the movie.
Barring this, the actual figure of his earnings from starring in movies was only Rs.200 million, as he featured in four movies last year. Considering his current star-price, his income from movies in the current fiscal may not go beyond Rs.300 million, which is way below his average earnings from endorsements.
If SRK earns less from movies, it is because he is seen as the least greedy among the Bollywood stars.
SRK never increases his price as others do without thinking. Even after ‘Om Shanti Om’ became a super-hit, he has decided against hiking his price.
"I have not seen him throwing star tantrums ever, like nitpicking on small things as most stars do. He comes to the sets and gets involved in shooting right away. As a matter of fact, on the sets, he never behaves like a star," said a production controller, the professional who on behalf of the producer takes care of the needs of the stars during shoots.
In contrast, SRK behaves like a 'star' when he shoots for TV commercials. There he refuses to compromise on anything, particularly on his price.
Says he: "Why should I compromise? TV commercials are what they are - commercials. "The companies that manufacture the brands pay the advertising agencies to make the commercials and the companies do so in order to boost their sales. The agencies, on their part, use me as a prop to meet the demands of the companies. So there! If you use me as a prop to climb up, pay me. Unlike my price for movies, I have no fixed price for my appearance in commercials."
But don't the producers sign him up essentially to boost box-office performance of their movies?
The superstar counters this question, saying he is beholden to Bollywood because it made him the superstar that he is today. He says his charging less for movie appearances is his little gesture of gratitude towards the industry.
"Had the industry not put me in a position where I am today, would the companies have chosen me to be their brand ambassadors?" SRK asks.
0 comments:
Post a Comment