Cheque De, SRK

If any confirmation was needed that 2007 was the year of Shah Rukh Khan, with two thumping hits Chak De! India and Om Shanti Om, it has come in the form of income-tax returns.

For just nine months starting April 2007, Shah Rukh has paid Rs 27 crore as advance tax for the assessment year 2007-2008, way ahead of his closest Bollywood competitor Akshay Kumar, who has shelled out Rs 7 crore.

Akshay wouldn’t mind, considering the buzz suggested that he would be doling out nothing less than Rs 26 crore this year. But the final bill came to Rs 7 crore for Akki who is riding on a popularity wave thanks to his four hit films this year. Brand Bachchan - comprising Big B, Abhishek and Aishwarya - has shelled out just a bit more than Akki. And surprisingly, Abhishek is the one who has paid maximum out of the three. Big B’s chunk of it was Rs 1.8 crore, Abhishek paid Rs 3.7 crore and bahu Aishwarya Rs 1.6 crore. The surprise entry of the year in the big I-T league was Himesh Reshammiya, who is pegged at Rs 2.1 crore. Aamir Khan, with his one-film-a-year policy, who produced and acted in Taare Zameen Par this year, paid Rs 3 crore, while Kareena Kapoor whose Jab We Met was hugely successful at the box office, handed out Rs 1 crore.

Sources said the huge gap between Shah Rukh and his competitors in the industry could be explained by the runaway success of OSO that was produced by him, the reception that Chak De got from audiences, the slew of endorsements that he got in 2007 and his Kaun Banega Crorepati deal where he got Rs 1 crore per episode.

Priti Gupta, TNN