Did Hrithik Roshan lose out on 'Thug' because of his TV deal?

Hrithik Roshan’s recent Rs 550 crore exclusive deal with a TV network could be to blame for his exit from Aditya Chopra’s Thug. As per that, all the actor’s films’ satellite rights are sold to that channel for a set amount. 

Says a source, “Hrithik has made a deal with Star TV for the exclusive privilege of premiering and broadcasting of all his films releasing in 2017. While Hrithik had brokered this deal himself, sometimes a production house and a TV network do it too for specific films or a certain number of films as a package. In Aditya Chopra’s case, he has brokered a deal with a rival TV channel, Sony,  for the films produced by his banner.

When Salman Khan signed Sultan, YRF allowed him to give the satellite rights of the film to Star, but in Hrithik’s case, for Thug, Adi wanted to pay him off with a certain amount, but not give him the satellite rights as he had to stick to his own contract with Sony. This irked Hrithik who was adamant about sticking to his commitment. Says a source, “His stand was, if Salman got his satellite rights, why not me? It was a matter of principle and he couldn’t understand why the differentiation. Once Hrithik walked off, Aamir was approached as he doesn’t take satellite rights, only a  fee and back-end of the profits.”