Dandiya march
Hiten Tejwani makes Rs 3 lakh per night during Navratri, Sangeeta Ghosh charges Rs 2 lakh...
Mumbai Mirror Bureau
This year, as you head for the nearest place to dance a Navratri night away, chances are that you will see the same people whom you left behind as you switched off your daily soap. Come garba season, and the TV stars and starlets are seen flocking to various dandiya extravaganzas as 'guests' - from Lokhandwala to London. This list includes everyone from the Virani bahus to the Malhotra damaads. And if you thought all this for the sheer devotion for 'Ambe Maa', they walk away with neat sums by way of pocket money.
Hiten Tejwani, Karan of Kyunki…has been making his moves in his Karan get-up in London and in the USA on 'public demand'. The estimated amount he is paid per 'night' is about Rs 3 lakh. On an average, he does five shows during Navaratri. And yes, his fees are hiked for the overseas shows.
Wife Gauri Pradhan is no less a rage on the dandiya raas circuit. She has already proved to be the biggest attraction for the urban crowds of Mumbai and Gujarat lately. And if hubby Hiten accompanies her, a package deal of Rs 10-12 lakh can be worked out.
There is however, a losing party to this deal. The producers and screenplay-writers of the daily soaps have to churn out their soaps with the smaller actors during this time or overwork to shoot upcoming sequences before time. Urvashi Dholakia, Komolika of Kasautii, keeps her producers informed well in advance about her week-or-so-long absence. She has been the star attraction with the Gujarati crowds from Surat and Mumbai to Dubai. Charging Rs 10 lakh for five days, she orders exclusive saris and bangles for the occasion.
As you may have guessed by now, the bahus and betis of the telly-families seem be busier than their male counterparts. The good bahus rake in the most moolah, banking on the popularity of their on-screen characters: Jassi, Tulsi, Pammi, the list is quite long. However their fees are dependent on their shows. For example, Mona Singh, used to get about Rs 8 lakh a night as long as Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin was on air. But she only managed to get Rs 5 lakh for six days, after the show went off-air.
Smriti Irani aka Tulsi of Kyunki… was once a sought-after name with among NRI dandiya players. The approximate figure that she'd collect from the shows is said to be around Rs 20 lakhs for five days. However, now she no longer makes these appearances. 'Pammi' aka Sangeeta Ghosh is paid a cool Rs 10 lakh (in five nights) to set the dandiya floor ablaze. So as the Navaratri industry gets new cogs in its machinery every coming year, it will be the TV stars who will be making the most money, much to the chagrin of Bollywood starlets, whose guest-status during Navaratri is increasingly been threatened.
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