Salman Khan ousted by Sanjay Dutt to host ‘Dus Ka Dum’

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: ‘Dus Ka Dum’ alliance with Salman Khan has gone kaput after the actor quoted exorbitant fee to host the show. After negotiations fell through with Salman, the heads of the broadcasting channel of the show has now decided to go with Sanjay Dutt as the new anchor of widely popular game show ‘Dus Ka Dum’. Sanjay has reluctantly agreed to host the show, as the actor feels that his presence on TV might cramp his style. Interestingly, this would be Dutt`s first tryst with television. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is the one who Dutt considers a pioneer among celluloid stars, and someone who has maintained a perfect balance between his image on the big screen as well as on small. Speaking to a daily, a source said, “Sanju was in two minds. One look at Amitji`s track-record on the home-viewing medium convinced Sanju to go for it.” Talks with Salman Khan and the channel have fallen through due to ‘irreconcilable financial differences’. So, the channel decided to zero in on someone who can replace Sallu’s place to the hilt. A very reliable source close to the channel confirmed that discussions with Sanjay Dutt have reached a final stage. “We`ve also been in very serious discussions with Anil Kapoor. Neither Sanjay Dutt nor Anil has done television before. That`s what places them above Salman Khan in our list of hosts,” the source said. News had it that even Anil Kapoor was approached to host the show but the plan went awry after the actor would be busy filming ‘Mission Impossible 4’ at the time of DKD shoot schedule. It’s also being known that after Salman’s exit, the channel is willing to pay Sanjay Dutt a hefty amount of money to come on board, though no one is willing to disclose the sum being offered to Sanju. A channel source said, "We`re just happy to have him on board. At any cost."