Varun Dhawan
Varun DhawanVarinder Chawla

Varun Dhawan is following superstar Salman Khan's footsteps. Last year, Salman signed Rs 1,000 crore deal with leading television network Star Gold, and now the "Dilwale" actor has signed a whopping Rs 300 crore satellite deal with the same network.

The satellite rights of his upcoming films, except "Judwaa 2," have been sold to the leading network for Rs 300 crore. The actor finalised the deal when he was in Dubai and he has returned to India to sign the official papers.

"@Varun_dvn signs a 300cr deal with a leading channel, following @BeingSalmanKhan not only in #Judwa2 but here too," trade analyst Girish Johar tweeted.

Among the newer lot, Varun is the only actor who has given back-to-back hits. Last year, his solo release "ABCD 2" became a superhit and also grossed over Rs 100 crore at the box office. Varun's second film last year was "Dilwale," in which he starred as the second lead after Shah Rukh Khan, but the film was not as successful as "ABCD 2." The domestic box office collection of "Dilwale" was not up to the mark, but the film still managed to earn over Rs 140 crore.

Varun is now the only actor among his contemporaries to sign such a big deal with a big television network. "All of Varun's films except Sajid Nadiadwala's Judwa 2's satellite rights have been sold. While Varun has cashed on his popularity, the leading television network hasn't revised their satellite deal with Ajay Devgn,"Absolute India News quoted a source as saying.

This is the second big deal the leading television network has signed with a Bollywood star. Last year, Salman's Rs 1,000 crore deal made the leading network one of the top rated movie channels on TV. Salman's "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo" were premiered on Star Gold and both the films topped the TRP chart.