★SCOOP: Salman Khan and Zee renegotiate the 230 cr. Radhe – Your Most Wanted Bhai deal due to Covid; revised deal is now 190 cr!
May 11, 2021
Bollywood Hungama had previously reported that Zee has acquired the satellite, digital, music and theatrical rights of Salman Khan's Radhe – Your Most Wanted Bhaifor a humongous sum of Rs. 230 crores, thereby cracking the biggest deal of pandemic times in Indian cinema. However, as the film is gearing up for a release, a theatrical release in India seems unlikely and the same has resulted in the parties involved renegotiating the financials.
"After multiple discussions with Salman Khan, Zee has now scaled down the deal value of Radhe – Your Most Wanted Bhai to Rs. 190 crores, as a theatrical release in India is now out of question. This is more like a direct to digital premiere on a pay per view format with a theatrical release abroad. The first deal was signed keeping a different release structure in mind and the film is now releasing in an altogether different format," a trade source told Bollywood Hungama.
With this, the makers have cracked the biggest deal ever for a direct to digital release in India surpassing the previous best, Laxmii starring Akshay Kumar by a considerable margin. "When Radhe – Your Most Wanted Bhai team decided to release the film on Eid in the month of April, they were confident of getting at-least 1000 screens but at this point of time, the country does not even have 100 functional screens. Hence, it's a direct to digital release in pay per view format followed by a digital premiere for free within four weeks of release."
Sadly, against everyone's wish and prediction, the film is now being pegged as a direct to digital release with the overseas theatrical share considered as a mere bonus for the makers. "They are expecting big returns from the overseas belt. However, be it Rs. 10 crore, Rs. 20 crore or even Rs. 30 crore in the best case scenario, the overseas share of Radhe – Your Most Wanted Bhai is more like a bonus for the team. Also both Zee and SKF would be donating a certain percentage of the share from the multi-platform release to Covid relief fund to help the needy. The team is confident to recover all of their investment with the multi-platform release plan with ease," the trade source added.
The Rs. 190 crore deal that's standing at present also includes the fees for some days alloted by Salman for cross promotions on Zee Platform. "It ranges from appearances on reality shows to appearance on award shows. Things have been structured in the form of money and kind, to ensure that no one makes any sort of losses
