‘Salman Khan charges ₹4.65 crore for a 30-minute appearance’:Pakistani influencers claim breaks storm; how big is India’s podcast industry?

The world of social media and podcasts has become a massive business. Recently, a big claim by Pakistani influencers ‘Zamzam Brothers’ in Dubai kick-started a debate about how much money famous Bollywood stars charge just to show up at events. The Big Claim: $500,000 for 30 Minutes? Pakistani ZamZam Brothers, who are famous social media influencers, recently appeared on a popular podcast of Rehan Tariq. During the interview, the siblings who run a large electronics retail chain in Dubai claimed that they wanted to invite Bollywood superstar Salman Khan for a short appearance. According to them, the actor’s team asked for $500,000 or ₹4.65 Crore for a just 30-minute appearance. While the ZamZam Brothers’ claim is a public statement made by them, it has not been officially confirmed or denied by Salman Khan’s legal or PR team. Who is Rehan Tariq? Rehan Tariq is a well-known Pakistani-born broadcast journalist who hosts high-profile guests on his podcasts. Who are ZamZam Brothers? If you use Instagram or YouTube, you might have seen two brothers selling luxury mobile phones and gadgets. This duo is the ZamZam Brothers (Abdul Ghafoor and Muhammad Shakoor), who are dubbed as ‘Chote Bhai’ and ‘Bade Bhai’. The real business of ZamZam Brothers: They own Zam Zam Electronics in Dubai. They became famous for dispensing largesse like iPhones to customers. Earnings: They apparently earn a massive amount from social media as they have over 80 million (8 crore) subscribers on YouTube and 2.85 crore followers of elder brother Abdul Ghafoor and 25 lakh followers of younger brother Muhammad Shakoor) on Instagram. Salman Khan is one of the richest actors in the world. Here’s a sneak pick on his earnings: Bigg Boss: Salman is the face of this reality show. He earns several crores for just an appearance over a weekend. Net Worth: ‘Celebrity Net Worth’ had last reported Salman Khan’s total net worth to be over ₹2,400 crore. Podcast Industry Growth In India, the podcast industry is growing at a crazy pace. Be it Raj Shamani or Ranveer Allahbadia, these guys have carved out a successful career out of podcasts. According to ‘Grand View Research’, the Indian podcast market was worth about $969 million (₹8,000 crore) in 2024 and is expected to grow by over 28% every year till 2030 to $4,502.9 million, nearly ₹42,000 crore.