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Film industry is a dicey world. It raises an actor to the skies when he/she is at the top but does not bat an eyelid before dropping the star like a hot potato when the starry halo around the head fades. It is disappointing for once-a-superstar like Madhuri Dixit to discover that she is not anymore the hot shakes she was. Moneywise, she does not need to worry. Appearances on reality shows as ‘special guest’, jurying a dance reality show, or endorsing new products that demand her charismatic smile are enough to bring in the booty where it should be — home.
Vidya Balan, who began her career with television and then moved over to modelling and finally to Bollywood, does endorsements because now she is a star and not the other way round. She does it not only for the money but also because it helps her skirt income tax issues with public service advertising. For Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, endorsement is a rich source of income and they add to the sales value of the products they endorse rather than it being the other way round. Anushka and Asin are more visible on endorsements and television commercials than on the big screen. The big screen has not given them the position they hoped it would. Endorsements have made them much more famous and rich than their film careers did. It has given them money, visibility, popularity and also, perhaps more roles in films. For Kajol, who evaded endorsements for years when she was a top star, endorsement on television for ‘domesticated’ products are backed by her ‘young mother’ image. This low-profile, publicity-shunning couple even came on as judges on a reality show.
Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan have stuck to fixed products for television endorsements, an intelligent move considering that their career in films is not exactly on the upscale. They are making the best of both worlds while the going is good. Even Abhay Deol hosted a reality show for some time following in the footsteps of Salman and Shah Rukh Khan. It was no great shakes.
Sonali Bendre, not exactly ‘hot property’ on the big screen, disappeared after marriage. The charisma of being watched, adored, celebrated and followed by millions of fans is a temptation few can resist. So she is back on television as the leading lady in Balaji Telefilms Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye. Anil Kapoor made the best of his role in 24 where one can also meet old-timer Anita Raaj, who is portraying the evil mother-in-law in Tumhari Pakhi, a popular serial. Both veteran stars lost their shimmer on the big screen. Lately, yesteryear actress Sarika appeared in Yuddh opposite Amitabh Bachchan probably in a last-minute effort to reclaim her career this time on the small screen. This also marked Bachchan’s debut in a fictionalised serial. But Sarika’s role seemed to have been truncated and the serial was so bad that it did nothing to give her career a fresh lease in a new medium. Yudhha was Bachchan’s comedown too! The same does not apply to the Maine Pyar Kiya history maker Bhagyashree, who gave up her film career to marry and settle down. She made her debut in Kacchi Dhoop, a television serial, till cinema snatched her away. When some television serials like Jaan, Didi Ka Dulha and Kaagaz Ki Kashti died with a whimper, she, too, disappeared. She is now drawing eyeballs in the kidnapping thriller Laut Aao Trisha where she hardly looks the mother of an 18-year-old young lady. Padmini Kolhapure, who quit films or rather, films quit her post-marriage, recently made a comeback on the small screen in Ekk Nayi Pehchaan, alongside her best friend Poonam Dhillon as a co-wife in the same serial that is going strong on a satellite channel.
"Television demands long hours, great effort and stamina and plenty of inputs. I did not want to commit myself to television because my responsibilities as wife and mother demanded my time and my energy. I am also doing a play," Padmini explains. The biggest winner in this rigmarole of a ball game is prima donna of yesteryear Madhuri Dixit. Upon her voluntary remigration from the US back home, with an eye on resurrecting her career as the top star in Bollywood, her big screen appearances were hardly the draw they were expected to be. She is 48 and some of the young damsels are half her age. Intelligently, she jumped on to the television bandwagon of reality shows and endorsements. While compatriot Juhi Chawla, almost out of films, is endorsing just one or two products, Madhuri’s endorsements are increasing every day. From toothpaste to synthetic oats, everyone has seen them all being endorsed with that million-dollar smile supported by an increasingly widening waistline. But Madhuri being Madhuri, the greenbacks are still flowing in and all is well with our world!
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