Drew Carrey has been receiving phone calls from an unlikely Indian dialer. Hollywood’s funny man and the host of Power of 10 has been giving Salman Khan tips on how to enthrall audiences as the anchor of Power of 10’s Indian avatar, or as Sony TV has rechristened it, Dus Ka Dum.
Though infamous in tabloids as a maverick, Salman is anything but joking about his television debut. He possibly can’t afford to since he’s reportedly being paid a staggering Rs 90 crore for 100 episodes.
Even before shooting for the show began, the actor took Synergy Adlabs, the production house, on a Mumbai tour, just so he could rehearse. “We’ve been travelling with him to Mehboob Studios, to his house and even to his brother’s office,” says Managing Director Anita Kaul Basu.
Till only a few years ago it would have been preposterous to think that a successful superstar would host a shot on television.
Even Amitabh Bachchan’s decision to sit opposite Kaun Banega Crorepati’s (KBC) hot seat in 2000, though a first for a film star, had come at a time when the actor was suffering from some serious down time.
It was really with Shah Rukh Khan’s KBC quizzing that people took notice. And though it has taken some time, Bollywood’s boom time on television has only just begun.
Salman Khan is being paid Rs 90 crore for close to 100 episodes of Dus ka DumAfter the two Khans, Akshay Kumar, whose only previous television appearance was a seven part series on National Geographic called Seven Deadly Arts, has given his nod to host Fear Factor’s Indian version, not surprisingly called Khatron Ke Khiladi.
The 16-episode show, which will air on Viacom-18’s recently launched channel Colors, is being produced by Endemol and the actor is reportedly being paid a whopping Rs 1.5 crore per episode.
Though this is the second instalment of Fear Factor in India, the first one, aired on Sony TV, featured little-known small screen stars, was hosted by Mukul Dev, and made no more than a blip on the TRP graph (2.5).
The blitzkrieg of actors using television for their greater good started when the marketeers became aware of the readymade publicity platform reality shows provided.
“Film stars were already doing television for free; they realised it was time they made money out of it,” says Keertan Adyanthaya, executive vice-president and general manager, Star Plus.
So Shah Rukh continued his TV-run with the 36-episode Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hein? on Star and even the usually hostile Ajay Devgan and Kajol took the tube route with Rock N Roll Family on Zee TV where the two along with Tanuja judge families on naach-gaana.
Money and publicity aside, television also lets actors connect with the audience. “It also lets them bust a lot of myths created around their persona,” says Sony TV business head Albert Almeida.
He’s probably hinting at Salman, who’s shed his first-day nervousness and put his sensitive side on display for the four episodes he’s shot till now. “He has an edginess and unpredictably. He doesn’t march to a singular tune and that works very well,” says Basu.
Stars are being relentlessly pursued also because of their advertising pull. A big ticket show like Paanchvi Paas or Dus ka Dum attracts advertisers because of its grand scale and its superstar status.
Though infamous in tabloids as a maverick, Salman is anything but joking about his television debut. He possibly can’t afford to since he’s reportedly being paid a staggering Rs 90 crore for 100 episodes.
Even before shooting for the show began, the actor took Synergy Adlabs, the production house, on a Mumbai tour, just so he could rehearse. “We’ve been travelling with him to Mehboob Studios, to his house and even to his brother’s office,” says Managing Director Anita Kaul Basu.
Till only a few years ago it would have been preposterous to think that a successful superstar would host a shot on television.
Even Amitabh Bachchan’s decision to sit opposite Kaun Banega Crorepati’s (KBC) hot seat in 2000, though a first for a film star, had come at a time when the actor was suffering from some serious down time.
It was really with Shah Rukh Khan’s KBC quizzing that people took notice. And though it has taken some time, Bollywood’s boom time on television has only just begun.
Salman Khan is being paid Rs 90 crore for close to 100 episodes of Dus ka DumAfter the two Khans, Akshay Kumar, whose only previous television appearance was a seven part series on National Geographic called Seven Deadly Arts, has given his nod to host Fear Factor’s Indian version, not surprisingly called Khatron Ke Khiladi.
The 16-episode show, which will air on Viacom-18’s recently launched channel Colors, is being produced by Endemol and the actor is reportedly being paid a whopping Rs 1.5 crore per episode.
Though this is the second instalment of Fear Factor in India, the first one, aired on Sony TV, featured little-known small screen stars, was hosted by Mukul Dev, and made no more than a blip on the TRP graph (2.5).
The blitzkrieg of actors using television for their greater good started when the marketeers became aware of the readymade publicity platform reality shows provided.
“Film stars were already doing television for free; they realised it was time they made money out of it,” says Keertan Adyanthaya, executive vice-president and general manager, Star Plus.
So Shah Rukh continued his TV-run with the 36-episode Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hein? on Star and even the usually hostile Ajay Devgan and Kajol took the tube route with Rock N Roll Family on Zee TV where the two along with Tanuja judge families on naach-gaana.
Money and publicity aside, television also lets actors connect with the audience. “It also lets them bust a lot of myths created around their persona,” says Sony TV business head Albert Almeida.
He’s probably hinting at Salman, who’s shed his first-day nervousness and put his sensitive side on display for the four episodes he’s shot till now. “He has an edginess and unpredictably. He doesn’t march to a singular tune and that works very well,” says Basu.
Stars are being relentlessly pursued also because of their advertising pull. A big ticket show like Paanchvi Paas or Dus ka Dum attracts advertisers because of its grand scale and its superstar status.
If a 10-second spot in a soapy saga sells for Rs 1 lakh, the same spot on a big show sells for nothing less than Rs 4 lakh. Add stars to this and advertisers flock to the channel. Star Plus, for one, has on board 11 sponsors for its Shah Rukh extravaganza, totalling over Rs 130 crore.
Today, the audience’s attention span has shrunk to a new low with the Indian Premier League (IPL) generating more TRPs (8.6) than a top-rated show on an entertainment channel.
The most recent example is Shah Rukh’s Paanchvi Pass. When compared to his earlier crore-caper, KBC 3, that opened with a TRP of 9.3 in January 2007, the first episode of this show only managed 4.6, slipping to 3.7 in the second. Yes, they may have beat IPL for one hour, but the question is will it sustain?
Urmila Matondkar is being paid Rs 1 crore for the 17-week Waar Parivaar showAfter all, though the audience might remember Bachchan’s lock kiya jaye and Shah Rukh’s spitfire wit, television has also produced superstar duds like Govinda’s Jeeto Chhapar Phaad Ke (average TRP of 3.4) and Madhuri Dixit’s post-marriage outing Kahin Naa Kahin Koi Hay (average TRP of 1.2), both on Sony TV.
Manisha Koirala’s SawaalDus Crore Ka on Zee TV was also disastrous. Even Star Plus’s golden goose KBC saw a slip in TRPs with every consequent season.
While opening at an average of 14.13, the subsequent seasons, KBC 2 with Bachchan and 3 with Shah Rukh, managed average TRPs of 11.14 and 6.8, respectively.
“You can only attract a certain number of people through star power. The concept has to work as well,” says Zee TV business head Tarun Mehra. He should know since the Devgan 30-episode family outing’s TRPs have been slipping after opening at 4.2.
In the next couple of months, television will have an overload of cricket and Bollywood. Not only big buck stars, but also have-beens like Raveena Tandon on 9X’s Chak De Bachche and Shatrughan Sinha on Star One’s The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 4.
Urmila Matondkar, who enjoyed the limelight in Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 2, returns to host Sony’s music show Waar Parivaar. She is allegedly being paid Rs 1 crore for the 17-weekshow— improving on her Rs 1.5-crore fee for 26-episode Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 2.
The gain is mutual for both the channels and the actors. What they should fear is falling into a rut where one channel throws money at an actor just to grab eyeballs, making the viewer switch to watch the Kolkata Knight Riders take on the Mumbai Indians.
Source: India Today
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