Aamir Khan reveals Sitaare Zameen Par was made on a budget of Rs 122 crore, says his partner backed out after he rejected OTT deals: ‘I had to buy them out'

Indian Express

a day ago

Aamir Khan's journey with his film Sitaare Zameen Par has been just as engaging as his film and in a new chapter of that ongoing journey, Aamir has revealed that he plans to eventually drop his film on OTT, a plan that he outrightly dismissed for months. He has also revealed the budget of the film and suggested that he is yet to make any money from the film, that costs roughly Rs 122 crore. So it is yet to be determined if Aamir's plan of taking the pay-per-view route after releasing in theatres was a wise move.
Aamir joined entertainment journalist Matthew Belloni on his podcast The Town and shared some shocking details about the actual amount of money that has been pumped into Sitaare Zameen Par. When Matthew asked him how the film was doing on YouTube, Aamir replied, 'It's doing better. It's doing way beyond what YouTube expected. I'm not allowed to give numbers, so I'm afraid I won't be able to give any numbers right now. I hope that I make the money back, and right now both YouTube and I are separately promoting it on the platform.'
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The Lagaan actor broke down his budget for the film and said, 'We have a marketing budget for this, and YouTube is putting its strength behind this, and YouTube is also putting up a marketing budget for this. There's a separate budget for the theatrical release and a separate budget for the YouTube release.' Aamir revealed that the initial budget for the film was $11 million (Rs 96 crore), but a major cost came out of nowhere once his partners learnt that he wasn't going to accept the OTT deal. He said, 'I had to pay a price also because I had a partner with me earlier, and they weren't very keen on this rash idea of mine. They didn't like me turning down money, so they preferred that I buy them out, and so therefore the film has actually cost me about $14 million (Rs 122 crore); let's say between $14 and $15 million (Rs 122 cr to Rs 133 cr) is what the cost of the film for me is.'
Upon learning this, the host asked him what the split between him and YouTube is for the film, and while Aamir didn't reveal the exact number, he hinted that it is a favourable deal for him and better than the traditional 50-50 split between filmmakers and theatres. The actor highlighted that this move will create a path forward for other filmmakers to successfully distribute their content. 'I think that one of the biggest steps that we've already taken is that today my film is actually available across not just India, but outside of India. It also is a great opportunity for younger filmmakers who are making films, indie films which don't have huge stars. They just don't get distribution in theatres.'
Now since the movie is already out on YouTube for the price of Rs 100, it won't presumably get the same deal it was initially offered by OTT platforms. As per trade analyst Komal Nahta, Prime Video offered Rs 120 crore for the film but Aamir turned down the deal.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film's worldwide collection currently stands at Rs 276 crore. Directed by RS Prasanna, the cast of the film includes Aamir, Genelia Deshmukh, and ten debutantes, namely, Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, and Simran Mangeshkar. The music has been composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and the lyrics have been written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.