In another big-ticket deal involving a Bollywood personality, actor Ranbir Kapoor last month purchased a sprawling apartment in Pali Hill for Rs 35 crore. The transaction works out to an eye-popping Rs 1.42 lakh per sq ft, perhaps the biggest deal recorded for a flat in the suburbs based on rate per square foot. The 2,460 sq ft flat is on the seventh floor of Vastu Pali Hill, a recently constructed luxury building in the upmarket residential enclave. Ranbir's flat comes with two parking slots. The 12-storey tower is also close to the Kapoor family's 'Krishna Raj' bungalow.

India's largest deal was recorded last year when the industrialist Jindal family paid a record Rs 1.60 lakh a sq ft for a 10,000 sq ft duplex in an upcoming Lodha tower at Altamount Road. A flat on Perry Cross Road had held the earlier record in the suburbs. The last record in the suburbs was created when builder Jagdish Ahuja paid Rs 1 lakh a sq ft for a 1,600 sq ft carpet area flat in the Sona Villa building at Perry Cross Road in Bandra (West).

Vastu building is part of Aerial View Co-op Housing Society on Pali Hill. The land was once owned by a Parsi woman, Diana Dady Baxter. The building has been constructed by builder Kirit Thacker and the project was financed by Sun Pharma. Sources said the late Baxter sold the plot to Land Breeze society, which in turn sold part of the land to Thacker for around Rs 15 crore.

Bollywood considers property a safe investment despite a stagnant residential property market. Last year, actors Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan bought apartments in Worli and Pali Hill respectively. Kumar paid Rs 28 crore for the luxury apartment on the 39th floor of the upcoming Skylark Towers in the prime Annie Besant Road. Realty sources said the film industry deals only in full cheque payment when buying property, unlike 20 years ago when cash played a major part in such transactions.

In 2014, actor Abhishek Bachchan paid Rs 41.14 crore for a similar-sized apartment on the 37th floor of a Worli tower. While Bachchan's deal was at the rate of Rs 1.06 lakh per sq ft, Kumar's flat price works out to Rs 72,000 per sq ft. Both these flats measure 3,875 sq ft (carpet) each.