Ajay Devgn joined his Bollywood colleagues like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Akshay Kumar when he made his TV hosting debut recently with Sony’s true-crime show, Crime Patrol. Ajay has reportedly signed a 15-episode deal with Sony to host the latest season of the popular show, which airs on Sony TV and streams on SonyLIV. What made headlines was Ajay’s reported fees of ₹90 crore for the season, spread across the episodes. While this does make him one of the highest-paid TV hosts currently, he is not at the top of the list. There is a name that dwarfed this earning not too long ago, earning a staggering ₹250 crore per season.
India’s highest-paid TV host
Salman Khan has consistently been the highest-paid TV host in India for over a decade, courtesy his successful hosting stint with Bigg Boss, a show he has anchored for over 15 years now. The actor began hosting the show, charging ₹2.5 crore an episode, which grew to a staggering ₹15 crore per week by seasons 15-16, the peak of the show’s popularity. As per reports, Salman would shoot the Weekend Ka Vaar episodes for a week in one go, charging ₹15 crore for the week. For an extended four-month season, his fee would build to a whopping ₹250 crore.
How much do TV hosts make
Salman eventually reduced his fees to ₹10 crore per week for seasons 18-19. Shorter seasons meant that his season fee also came down to ₹130-150 crore. However, it is still the highest in the country. Amitabh Bachchan also routinely charges over ₹100 crore for every new season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The megastar is said to charge between ₹15-20 crore per week for his duties as the host of the quiz show. With his ₹90-crore haul, Ajay now sits third on that list. Karan Johar is the highest-paid non-actor among TV hosts, having earned over ₹25 crore for the last season of Koffee With Karan. Ajay’s filmmaker friend Rohit Shetty is the next in the list, with a reported fee of ₹12-14 crore for the latest season of Khatron Ke Khiladi.
Ajay Devgn as Crime Patrol host
Ajay was announced as the new host of Crime Patrol in August, with the first episode premiering on August 31. In a statement, the actor said, “The show has built a legacy of understanding crime stories while driving awareness among viewers, encouraging them to become more vigilant about the people around them and who they interact with and trust. As we bring to the forefront some of the stories inspired by cases that have shaken the nation, I hope and believe that I can help and guide audiences to navigate them with caution rather than fear.”
Crime Patrol premiered in 2003 and has evolved through several editions, including Crime Patrol Satark, Crime Patrol Dastak, Crime Patrol Dial 100 and Crime Patrol 2.0. Actor Anup Soni became closely associated with the franchise after hosting several seasons. Over the years, other presenters have included Sakshi Tanwar, Sonali Kulkarni, Divyanka Tripathi, Ashutosh Rana, Renuka Shahane and Nakuul Mehta.