MUMBAI: The mobile space is heating up after Vodafone’s big bang entry into the market with a mammoth Rs 200 crore marketing campaign. Now, Aditya Birla Group’s mobile service operator Idea Cellular has appointed Abhishek Bachchan as its new brand ambassador.

According to sources, the deal size is said to be in the range of Rs 32-35 crores. The brand in return will have nine days a year with the star for three years. This is touted as one of the most expensive endorsement deals in recent times.

Bachchan will be shooting various television and print ads for Idea Cellular. Bachchan’s appointment as brand ambassador for a three year period is a stratergy that the Birla Group will use to aggressively market and establish the Idea brand in the market.

At the time of filing this report, neither Idea officials nor Bachchan’s brand manager Sunil Doshi were available for comment. The first television commercial of Idea featuring Bachchan, which was shot some time back, hit the airwaves on 7 October.

In the mobile service provider space, Airtel has Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador, Tata Indicom has Kajol, whereas Spice has Priyanka Chopra. Vodafone (earlier Hutch) and BPL Mobile do not use any actors as endorsers.

Idea Cellular operates in states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. The operator has a customer base of over 10 million.

With Idea Cellular, Bachchan now adds to his growing porfolio of brands that he endorses comprising Motorolla, American Express, Omega, Ford, BIG 92.7 FM and LG.