MUMBAI: Whatever the ‘Dabangg’ Salman Khan does, he does with style! If latest reports are to be believed, his upcoming ‘Jai Ho’ is to be the most expensive remake of a South film.

The remake rights of Telugu film ‘Stalin’, starring superstar Chiranjeevi and Trisha were reportedly procured by Sohail Khan in a landmark deal recently. The agreement had been signed last year, but the final negotiation was sorted out only very recently.

‘Jai Ho’, earlier titled ‘Mental’, will be remade from the original script of ‘Stalin’, which was purchased by Sohail and team for a whopping Rs 4.3 crore. Shooting for ‘Jai Ho’ is nearly complete.

Naturally, Sohail remained tight-lipped about the deal, but sources close to the project confirm that this is the highest amount that has ever been paid for remake rights of a South Indian film.

The director of the original film ‘Stalin’, A R Murugadoss (of ‘Ghajini’ fame) had wanted to remake his own film in Hindi. However, he was caught up with other projects, so Sohail snapped up the opportunity.

In the initial stages, there was even talk of A R Murugudoss coming on board for Salman’s Bollywood version of the film. But since the director was busy with ‘Thuppakki’, he decided to part with the remake rights.

Said a source: “Nobody in Bollywood will reveal the price of the acquisition of the remake rights of South movies because of various factors. But yes, it is true that ‘Stalin’ is the first South film to have breached the Rs 4-crore barrier in selling remake rights. The previous highest sum was Rs 3.5 crore for a popular Tamil movie.”

Will ‘Jai Ho’ be the next feather in Salman Khan’s remake cap, post the blockbuster successes of his previous South remakes ‘Wanted’, ‘Ready’ and ‘Bodyguard’? WAIT AND WATCH!