Tracking Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss salary over the years, from ₹5 crore to ₹25 crore per weekend: reports

Despite what Bigg Boss host Salman Khan says about how much he makes for appearing on the show, his salary has reportedly increased from ₹5 crore per weekend to ₹25 crore per weekend. Salman has been hosting Bigg Boss since 2010.

At the recent launch event for Bigg Boss 15, the actor said, “I keep telling the makers I put in so much hard work, they should consider it and increase my pay, but nobody listens. I just pray to God that a time comes when the channel tells me, ‘Salman we will increase your pay’, and I would tell them, ‘No, let it be’. Do you really feel this can happen?”

Multiple reports that can be traced to LetsOTT Global suggest that Salman will make ₹350 crore for appearing in around 28 episodes, which takes his weekend remuneration to around ₹25 crore. 

Last year, Salman had said that he was happy to take a pay cut to ensure that the show continues during the pandemic year. “This is the reason why I am doing this season of Bigg Boss. It’ll provide employment to people, there’s a very large unit, they will start getting their salary, they’ll be able to get ration for their homes,” he had said during a press conference. “Obviously you might not see huge increments, but we are paying full salary,” Abhishek Rege, CEO of Endemol Shine India said, to which Salman replied, “What about mine? It doesn’t matter. I am more than happy to cut it down so that everyone else gets paid.”

According to a Bollywood Hungama report, the actor was paid ₹2.5 crore per episode from seasons four to six of the show. “Thereafter, he doubled his fees to ₹5 crore for Bigg Boss 7. For Bigg Boss 8, Salman is estimated to have charged ₹5.5 crore per episode and for Bigg Boss 9, he increased his fees to ₹7-8 crore per episode. For season 10 of Bigg Boss, he took home ₹8 crore per episode,” the report said.

When it was reported that he would take home ₹11 crore per episode for the show’s 11th season, Salman said in a press conference, “Please make Raj (Nayak, Endemol COO) pay me that amount.” While Salman made it sound like just a rumour, Raj’s response suggested that the number may not be too far from the actual figure. “Salman Khan doesn’t come cheap, you know,” he said.

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Bigg Boss 15 premieres on October 2. Confirmed contestants include Shamita Shetty, Umar Riaz, Donal Bisht, Nishant Bhat, Tejasswi Prakash, Karan Kundrra, Pratik Sehajpal and Simba Nagpal. Afsana Khan, who was also confirmed in a recent promo video, pulled out of the show citing medical reasons.