What could have been Rajkumar Hirani’s television debut, has now turned into just another show with Boman Irani as the host. Hirani was pursued very diligently by a general entertainment channel (GEC) and to its good fortune, he agreed too! But the PK (2014) director quoted such a high price that the channel had no option but to go looking for another host.
An industry insider told The Quint, “It’s a comedy show catering to family audiences, and the channel thought Rajkumari Hirani would be the best choice as one of the judges. Without a doubt, he is the only director who has managed to walk the tightrope balancing critical plaudits to mass adulation, and has become a name to reckon with. A few meetings took place, and it looked like Hirani would give his nod at any point.”
And then Aamir Khan stepped into the picture. Hirani who has delivered two of the biggest hits of his career with Aamir Khan as the leading man is also a close friend of the star. So, he consulted his friend Aamir, who has a good idea of the small screen after his stint with Satyamev Jayate, which became the talk of the nation. “Aamir firmly believes that a successful director like Hirani deserves a good pay package for his time on TV. So, after much deliberation and discussion, Hirani quoted Rs 25 Lacs per day for his debut on TV. And that’s where the channel realised that it’s getting too pricey and if they pay Hirani so much, the show would be more than over budget,” the source adds.
At the end, the channel had to forego the idea of having Hirani as the judge, and decided to take Boman Irani instead. Interestingly, during the initial stage of the show’s conceptualisation, the channel had thought of having both Rajkumar Hirani and Boman Irani as judges.
“Unlike Hirani’s grandiloquent remuneration, Boman’s remuneration is somewhere between Rs 8-9 Lacs. The initial idea was to have both Boman and Raju together, as people have seen Boman doing such amazing comedy in Raju’s films. And their great working chemistry really appeals to the family crowd. Now, the channel has to settle for Boman only,” the source says.
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