Ajay Devgn

Ajay Devgn

Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn has signed a deal worth about Rs 400 crore with Star India for exclusive satellite rights to all his upcoming releases until 2017, the second such contract that the network has sealed after it inked a pact with superstar Salman Khan last month.

Devgn, the only other Bollywood actor apart from Khan to have four films in the Rs 100 crore-club, said he could ensure a better value for his films than his producers.

Besides Devgn’s yet-to-be-released films, the network has 18 of his earlier films, including Singham, Golmaal, Zameen and Gangajal. His last two Rs 100 crore films Son of Sardaar and Bol Bachchan, which premiered on Star’s entertainment channel Star Gold, had fetched the highest and the second highest ratings (TVR) respectively.

Among the films to be released, is Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala, which studio Disney UTV releases at the end of the month. The next is Prakash Jha’s Satyagraha, followed by an action film with Prabhudeva and a sequel to Singham with Reliance Entertainment.

The deal has strategic value for the network, said Sanjay Gupta, chief operating officer of Star India.

The small screen is the new cinema hall where a premier of a big film can attract 20-30 crore viewers, ten times that in theatres, Gupta said. Research shows that television viewers spend 20-30% of their time watching movies on the small screen, impacting the television rating points keenly followed by advertisers.

A film is considered a success on TV if it can manage to garner an average 2.5 television rating points or TRPs through the year, apart from the high number it garners on premieres.

The last three premieres on Star Gold starring Devgn averaged 6.2 TRPs.

(Source: Economic Times)

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