Ghajini's Pre-release Magic

Both the Khans pulled out all stops to promote their home productions last year. Though SRK seemed to have topped the box-office charts in 2007, Aamir seems all set to reign showbiz in 2008. The actor's forthcoming film, a remake of the Tamil thriller 'Ghajini' has reportedly already made Rs 90 crores.

According to reports, the Indian Film Company has bagged the domestic distribution rights for the Aamir Khan-starrer for an estimated Rs 53 crore. Its home video rights, overseas rights and satellite rights have been sold for another Rs 40 crore. Till now, the record for pre-release movie rights was for King Khan's Om Shanti Om, a whopping Rs 73 crores.

"With Aamir at the helm, we are convinced that Ghajini will be one of the biggest films of 2008. So, its only a fair deal for us," said Sandeep Bhargava, CEO, TFC Advisors.

The reported record price that Ghajini has fetched now puts Aamir one notch above Shah Rukh Khan, as both actor and producer.

While Shah Rukh's Om Shanti Om has made over Rs 90 crore in its fifteenth week, Aamir's Taaren Zameen Par has already made Rs 85 crore in its eighth week. This comes despite the fact that Aamir's film was considered a more niche product.

"The number of prints that we released for TZP is just 470 as opposed to 800 plus prints of most blockbusters. Yet, the film stayed on purely on the basis of its merit," said Gaurav Verma, Head of Distribution, PVR.

So, while Shah Rukh Khan's overpowering presence everywhere makes him the more popular star, it looks like Aamir Khan's saleability comfortably justifies his reported asking price of Rs 7 crore for a film, simply by numbers.