KBC: Shah Rukh more expensive than Big B, charges more than double .... ?

Onkar Singh in New Delhi, Rediff.com

November 27, 2006 16:09 IST

We now know that Shah Rukh Khan has been roped in to replace Amitabh Bachchan in Star TV's popular game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati. But what you might not know is that the channel has signed SRK with a huge hike in the fee.

Sources close to the proceedings also say Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar played a major role in swinging the deal in SRK's favour.

"I am not sure about the exact amount, but it is more than double [of Bachchan's fee]," a source said.

"There are two reasons for changing the anchor. One, the TRP [television ratings] had fallen from five to six in KBC's second season. The other reason was to target a younger audience," the source added.

Anita Kaul Basu, wife of KBC's producer Siddharth Basu, says, "The shooting will begin in the last week of December or early January. It will be telecast from mid-January. Initially, we will be shooting 52 episodes."