Big stars on small screen
Surekha Kadapa-Bose

Filmstars, directors and music composers can be seen making a beeline for television shows and news programmes to promote their films before the release

Ranbir Kapoor joins steps with Bharti on the sets of Jhalak Dikhla Ja

The prime time programmes on television are a must-watch at dinner time in most Indian families today. If in such a scenario, these serials get special guests from Bollywood like the Khan triumvirates, Ranbir Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Vidya Balan, what more can one expect for entertainment at home?

The entry of stars on television has become a routine. Every weekend at prime time, small screens explode with these shooting stars on almost every channel, including news channels. The actors want to exploit these serials to promote their forthcoming films. The lead actors, along with the film’s director, cast, at times even music composers, interact with the characters of the programme. To sprinkle elements of entertainment on the show, they dance on songs from the film, deliver dialogues, and generally do everything to hook you to their forthcoming film. So, even if you haven’t kept tab with the film releases for the week, these stars will update you with the film facts.

Here, you can watch Shah Rukh Khan mouthing the romantic dialogue, “Teri aankhon ki namkeen mastiyaan, teri hansi ki beparwaah gustakhiyan” from his film Jab Tak Hai Jaan. On another programme, you can see Salman Khan dancing to the tunes of his famous trouser waist band shaking song, “Hun, Hun Dabangg” or admire Ajay Devgn contorting his palm for the song “Singham”. The aim being to attract at least 10 per cent of the viewers the next day to watch their films in the theatre.

Sridevi with Amitabh Bachchan on the sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati

This recent trend of the film fraternity making a beeline to the small screen has become an absolute must pre-release gimmick of filmmakers.

At the time of release of her film English Vinglish, Sridevi told Amitabh Bachchan in one of the episodes of Kaun Banega Crorepati, “Fifteen years ago, when I took a break from acting, this kind of film promotion wasn’t there. I never interacted so much with media in my entire career as I have been talking now for this film.”

On filmstars flocking the small screen, Dayanand Shetty, who plays inspector Daya in crime thriller CID, says, “When we were young, we would go to theatres to catch trailers of forthcoming films but this has changed now. Today, even if trailers appear on TV during commercial breaks, we tend to switch channels and skip ads. When filmstars appear as guests on a popular serial, they find a readymade audience to whom they can tell about the new film.”

This entire pact seems to be advantageous to films! In this scenario, how do the serials, which are popular anyway and the reason why the films want to ride on their popularity, benefit from this arrangement?

According to playback singer Javed Ali, who hosted the recently concluded Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2013 on Zee TV, “No doubt, serials are popular but this doesn’t mean that everyone is watching all programmes on the small screens. So if filmstars appear in a serial, they bring in eyeballs of their fans, which leads to increased TRPs. These, in turn, increase advertisement revenue.”

How about the comfort level while interacting with big screen actors? About actors like Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, etc. who had appeared on CID to promote their films, Shetty says, “Filmstars are often very friendly. In fact, some successful TV actors have more ego problems than them. At the same time, however, we also keep our distance with the filmstars. It is only while shooting that we indulge in small conversations with them. Once the shot is over, we don’t intrude into their space.”

Ali, who is in his twenties, has interacted with guests like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Imraan Khan, etc. on the sets of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Talking about interacting with the big guys, he says, “We all respect our seniors. The same thing applies when these stars make an appearance on our programme. Talent, irrespective of age and stature, is respected by everyone. So, when stars from the big screen appear on our show, there is mutual respect for each other’s work.”

In a way, it is a symbiotic existence between the small and big screen. While one has mass appeal, the other has bigger-than-life size glamour. But they both happily co-exist and willingly exploit each other.

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