Once upon a time, not long ago, stars dazzled
bright only in the skies and our B-town stars only on the silver screen. They
were our gods and goddesses, luminous deities who mesmerized, transfixed and
transported us to a never-never land of happy-ever-after! In the troubled, busy
and confusing times we live in, these stars, with their spectacular and
larger-than-life glamor and feel-good quotient, showed us the light, inspired
hope and, in their own filmy way, demonstrated virtue’s victory over evil and
generally distracted, entertained and gifted us an alternative reality that
engaged, enchanted and even empowered. In India, entertainment is Bollywood and
Bollywood is stars; creatures who are elusive, whom you see but can’t touch or
connect with; dudes and dolls you read about, gossip about, fantasize about .…
Their charm lay in the fact that they were out-of-bounds, inaccessible,
off-limits to the howling mobs.
Suddenly this concept has taken a U-turn! The
big, sexy, glamorous, unattainable movie-star defined by magic and mystique now
come to entertain you, every night, free of charge, on … the idiot box! From
Big B, SRK, Salman Khan to Akshay, Ajay Devgun & Kajol, Preiti Zinta, Rani
Mukherjee, Urmila Mataonkar, Raveena Tandon, Shushmita Sen, Sonali Bendre,
Malaika Arora, Rakhi Sawant, they are all hitting TV screens in droves!
Why? In Hollywood (a place the complex-ridden
Bollywood is constantly yakking about), neither TV endorsements, TV anchoring
or “special” insanely lucrative appearances at product launches, event
openings, concerts or big-ticket weddings happen. So what’s going on? Why this
desperate sell-out? Aren’t they scared that this insane and all-pervasive
exposure will hurt their brand equity as stars?
Long time film-tracker,
Ashish Paul scoffs at these concerns. “Film stars of yesteryears — 50’s, 60’s,
even 70’s — resided in a different world. Commercialism, consumerism and
media-driven activities didn’t exist. It was a sweet, cozy, protected space
with very high comfort levels. The advent of TV, but more critically the
opening up of markets post-91, changed all that. This coincided with Bollywood
getting bigger and more powerful as an undisputable pan-India — even global —
brand. Very soon, along with cricket, it became the new religion, the great
leveler, a seductive common factor that despite caste, creed, language, color,
religion, region, culture, even country, bound all. It’s natural, hence, that
today’s star-kids, (smart n’ savvy that they are), will participate, even drive
this new revenue-generation stream. As for compromising on their ‘exclusive’
tag, I don’t think they give a damn! The amount of money they earn in these
shows against the time spent, makes it a delectable fast-buck option.”
Victor (Passage to India) Banerjee partially
disagrees. He believes that, traditionally, there has always been a distinct
divide between TV stars and movie stars, each ruling their own defined space.
“Hollywood still maintains it and apart from the odd exception, doesn’t dream
of indulging in any of the crazy trade-offs that blitz the scene, here. For a
very long time I resisted TV work. It’s only when nothing worthwhile was coming
my way in the movies, that I started doing TV serials. Ads, anchoring or
special appearances remain, mostly a no-no. There’s a limit to commodification!
Everything in my life is not up for sale.”
Big Brands like the Amitabh Bachchan (reportedly
$300,000 per episode for anchoring Big Boss 3) or Shah Rukh Khan (alleged to
have taken home a whopping $8 million for anchoring Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se
Tez Hai?) are likely to brush away Banerjee’s diffidence. So are stars like
Salman Khan, who is reported to receive $18 million for Season 1 of Dus Ka Dum
or Ajay-Kajol, who are said to receive $2 million combined for judging Rocky&Roll Family. Even forgotten actress Urmila Matondkar scooped up a
cool $1.5 million for judging Waar Parivar. On the anvil are out-of-work star
Preity Zinta, reportedly offered a cool $2 million for a show entitled The
Preity Zinta Show, where she will interview/chat with her celeb, B-town
friends. Also, the red-hot Bipasha Basu was allegedly signed by SRK’s Red Chillies
to anchor a show on the lines of America’s Next Top Model. Payout? $130,000 per
episode.
Wait, there is more! In these insanely
glamour-driven times where everything Bollywood-specific is hugely in demand,
stars drive everything. It’s only natural, hence, that stars leverage their
marketability across every conceivable revenue-generating avenue. So, enter
concerts, weddings and special appearances! King Khan, demanding — and getting
— anything between $300,000 to $600,000 depending on what you want him to do.
Whether it’s high-ticket affairs like Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter’s or real
estate hot-shot Kanti Govani’s weddings, SRK is a must. If he is required to
grace his presence right through, covering all the functions, the payout is
said to be a gigantic $2.4 million. Next in line are Salman Khan ($200,000)
Katrina Kaif ($160,000), Govinda ($140,000) and Lara Dutta ($60,000). Saif,
Ranbir, Deepika, Imraan and Asin are also said to be in the $100,000 bracket
for special appearances. And now small-timers too are leaping onto this
bandwagon. Malaika Arora, Celina Jaitley, Dia Mirza, Rakhi Sawant and Isha
Koppikar also stand to pick up a cool $20,000 for an item jig. Can’t afford
that? Not to worry. The likes of Koena Mitra, Priti Jhangiani, Sanobar Kabir,
Payal Rohatgi and gang come between $10,000 to $14,000.
The moolah is there, all the way. The gorgeous
Kat Kaif was offered $200,000 to perform in a Mumbai 5-star hotel last year.
This year, reportedly due to her No.1 status, she’s been offered double the
amount for a 10-minute jig! She was also said to have been paid a cool $160,000
— you’re not gonna believe it, guys — wave at the crowd at a recent concert in
Dubai! A $140,000 paycheck also came her way for a 30-minute performance at a
farmhouse in Delhi. The other sizzler, Bips Basu, was said to have been offered
a sexy $200,000 to greet last year’s New Year at a Mumbai 5-star hotel, but she
refused because of 26/11. This year she is supposed to have been offered and
even larger fee, to which she has agreed. Neha Dhupia, Udita Goswami, Tanusree
Dutta all pick up anything between $10,000 to $40,000 to do a routine number.
Oh, how can one forget the deadly Mallika Sherawat? She reportedly took home
the big one — $600,000 to $1 million for a jig.
TV appearances, ad
endorsements, weddings, concerts, special appearances. Big and even small stars
are flooded with revenue-generating opportunities from a
