POORER BY
LAKHS -FOR STAR POWER
We are usually awe-struck when our favourite stars 'appear' at the launch of a store or a cultural event- little known is the fact by public, that the'
appearance fees ' are exhorbitant.
Most of us would have often wondered how these stars find time from their busy shooting schedules to attend shop opening, product launches and cultural festivals. The film industry's once best-kept secret is that most of stars' earning is from such 'appearance fees'. It is no more a hush-hush affair. The stars are very strict about their demands.
Some interesting facts about the payment:
In Chennai, a popular star charges around
rs 1lakh. The slightly less popular stars
charge around Rs 50,000. But the real big stars will not make an appearance for less than Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakhs.
As for actresses, they charge a fee of Rs 2-3 lakhs and they demand a pick of the product they appear for.
Most of the store
owners deny
paying the stars and claim that the
willing stars are called depending upon the rapport maintained with them. At the most the store owners admit that plane tickets are bought for the willing stars.
But there are stars like Revathi who support a cause (AIDS) and Amla (Blue Cross) only ask for a generous amount for the organisations.
These appearances are different from the tie up with brand names.For example, Shah Rukh Khan has signed up with Tag Heuer and so will be present at all their events.
Nobody minds paying these stars. But it is expected that they are professional in their attitude-they should at least be punctual.
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