Salman Khan, Sourav Ganguly, Vijay Sethupathi: Highest Paid Hosts of ‘Bigg Boss’

Kitchen fights, crazy tasks, verbal brawls and addictive voyeuristic entertainment. The “Bigg Boss” season is kicking off in India from the last week of August with “Bigg Boss Bangla” being the first to go on air and streaming. Superstar hosts like Salman Khan, Nagarjuna, Vijay Sethupathi, Mohanlal, Kiccha Sudeepa and cricketer Sourav Ganguly will host these seasons in different regional languages. The Hindi and South Indian versions are all starting from September 6.

“Bigg Boss” is one of the highest-earning reality shows on Indian TV with numerous brands coming on board. While it’s the contestants who ensure endless drama inside the house, the hosts anchor it when things are tepid inside. Audiences who are not keen fans of the show tune in to see their fave superstar every weekend interacting with housemates, guests and schooling them if needed. With top actors ensuring steady TRPs, it is evident that their remuneration matches their star power. Here is an approximate lowdown of how top superstars make every season of “Bigg Boss”. 

Salman Khan 
‘Bigg Boss Hindi’
Seasons Hosted: Season four to 19; Bigg Boss OTT 2 

The actor has hosted 17 seasons of “Bigg Boss” Hindi so far taking over the duties from season four. The superstar takes home a package of ₹ 200 crores for the entire season. His per episode fee ranged from ₹ eight to ten crore till 2015. “Bigg Boss 13” was a TRP-topping season, and Khan made ₹ 13 to 15 crore per episode. His final remuneration was above ₹ 350 crores for that epic season that clocked consistent TRPs of above 3.5 every Weekend Ka Vaar. In the current season, Khan is taking home ₹ 15 crore plus every weekend. 

Sourav Ganguly 
‘Bigg Boss Bangla’
Seasons Hosted: Season 3 will be his first

After Mithun Chakraborty and Jeet, cricketer Sourav Ganguly has become the host of “Bigg Boss Bangla” season three. The reality TV show is returning with a new season after a decade. Sourav Ganguly stepped out of his iconic quiz show, “Dadagiri Unlimited” to take up “Bigg Boss Bangla” Season 3. He is taking home an approximate package of ₹ 125 crores plus for the entire season. This makes him one of the highest paid hosts after Salman Khan. 

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Vijay Sethupathi 
‘Bigg Boss Tamil’
Seasons Hosted: 8-10

Vijay Sethupathi took over hosting duties from Kamal Haasan in “Bigg Boss Tamil” Season 8. He charges around ₹ 3-4 crore per weekend with his season fee coming close to ₹ 75 to 80 crores. 

Nagarjuna

‘Bigg Boss Telugu’

Seasons Hosted: Season 3-10 

If “Bigg Boss Hindi” is associated with Salman Khan, then Nagarjuna is the face of “Bigg Boss Telugu.” He has hosted seven seasons of the show. Nagarjuna’s fee hit its peak in 2025 with the “Kuberaa” actor commanding close to ₹ 35 crore for the entire season. He had started off rather humbly in 2019 making around ₹ 10 crore for the entire season. 

Mohanlal
‘Bigg Boss Tamil’
Seasons Hosted: Season 1-8

The “Drishyam” actor has been the face of “Bigg Boss Malayalam” since its inception in 2018. His fee for the entire season is close to ₹ 30 crore. The superstar shoots for 20 days for the entire Bigg Boss season. 

Kiccha Sudeepa
‘Bigg Boss Kannada’
Seasons Hosted: Season 1-13 

The Kannada version of “Bigg Boss” is hosted by Kiccha Sudeepa who takes home close to ₹ 20 crore for the entire season. His fee is around ₹ 2 crore per weekend episode. 

Riteish Deshmukh
‘Bigg Boss Marathi’ 
Seasons Hosted: Seasons 5-6 

He took over the reins of “Bigg Boss Marathi” from Mahesh Manjrekar in 2024. The actor is paid close to ₹ 50 lakh for every weekend episode. The fee for the entire season is close to ₹ eight to 10 crore. There is no clarity on whether “Bigg Boss Marathi” is happening in 2026 so far. 

FORMER HOSTS’ REMUNERATION

Kamal Haasan 
‘Bigg Boss Tamil’ 
Seasons Hosted: Season 1-7 

Audiences who follow “Bigg Boss Tamil” know that the regional version serves entertainment and drama of the gold standard. Kamal Haasan always has a lot on his plate when he comes for the weekend episodes. He was paid upwards of ₹ 130 crore for the seventh season. Haasan hosted Bigg Boss Tamil from seasons one to seven. His debut season saw him pocket a fee of close to ₹ 50 crore. 

Mahesh Manjrekar 
‘Bigg Boss Marathi’
Seasons Hosted: Seasons 1-4

The filmmaker was the host of “Bigg Boss” Marathi from Season 1-4. He was charging ₹ 25 lakh per weekend episode. 

Jr NTR
‘Bigg Boss Telugu’
Seasons Hosted: Season 1

Jr. NTR was the host of the first season of “Bigg Boss Telugu” where he pocketed around ₹ 35 to 50 lakh per weekend episode. The superstar kept mum about his fee saying he was more excited about the challenge than the remuneration. 

Nani
‘Bigg Boss Telugu’
Seasons Hosted: Season 2

In 2018, he became the host of Bigg Boss Telugu Season Two where he charged ₹ 10 lakh per weekend episode. His fee for the entire season was ₹ 10 crore. The huge difference between Nani and Jr NTR’s approximate reported fees had created a lot of stir in the media.