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Have Karisma dance at your do

Bharathi S Pradhan

Karisma Kapoor.

An upmarket wedding or social function in India no longer calls for a jumbo guest list, natty designer threads -- with the price tag and the designer's name never kept a secret -- and stalls bent double with food and drink.

If you are really in the mean league, you've got to have Shah Rukh Khan there, shaking a leg to Chaiyan Chaiyan to entertain your guests. And the price? Well, it adds up to just about a quarter of what the bride's jewel-studded lehnga costs.

When the wealthiest Indian in the world, Laxmi Narain Mittal, chose to have his niece married off in Delhi, he had Shah Rukh to add lustre to the event. And guests got what are termed back presents in the form of Shah Rukh's coveted autograph. Both Shah Rukh and Karisma Kapoor came up on stage to dance to taped music. Mittal has made his statement.

Shah Rukh Khan. Click for bigger pic!

Not to be beaten, diamond merchant and film financier Bharat Shah put together an evening of entertainment starring with Govinda, Salman Khan and Raveena Tandon.

It doesn't stop with weddings and exclusive dos. The Lux-Zee Awards function held recently in Bombay boasted had entertainment provided by Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Akshay Kumar and Urmila Matondkar besides having lesser stars like Akshaye Khanna, Aishwarya Rai, Saif Ali Khan and Sonali Bendre as presenters.

The disillusioning truth is that it wasn't the confidence the channel inspired that drew these film stars, reportedly just a seven-figure pay packet.

Laxmi Mittal

Shah Rukh and Karisma put on a full-fledged show at the Mittal wedding. Obviously, they had to be paid for it.

"They are professionals," points out Aly Morani of Morani fireworks who fixed the meeting between Shah Rukh and Mittal. Childhood friends of Sunny Deol, the Moranis branched out into film-making over 15 years ago with the film Arjun. It didn't take long for them to make deep, long-lasting friendships with the top stars of the Hindi film world.

With sharp business acumen, the Morani brothers also tapped the widespread contacts they had outside India wherever there was a sizeable Asian population and soon built up a reputation for organising some of the most professionally produced star shows in the world.

Urmila Matonkdar. Click for bigger pic!

When the mega-rich Dianoor diamond people from London gingerly test the Indian waters, starting with Bombay, Shah Rukh Khan was a special guest at their party at the Rendezvous, Taj. Once again, courtesy the Moranis.

"Shah Rukh doesn't charge just to attend a party," says Aly Morani. "He didn't charge anything to attend the Dianoor Party. But if he's asked to come and do a jig on stage as a professional, then obviously he has to be paid for the performance."

He is -- according to the grapevine -- given a fee of anything between Rs 2.5 million and Rs 3.5 million for an evening's performance.

Govinda. Click for bigger pic!

But rest assured that when Shah Rukh makes a commitment he is worth all the effort. The man is a complete professional: he turns up on time and does a thorough job as entertainer. Govinda, though chronic latecomer he is, immediately establishes a rapport with the audience once he is on stage. He also sings a number or two.

Salman Khan is pretty good, his, O o, Jaane Jaana being a topselling item.

Of course, some senior stars frown disapprovingly on stars who are available for a price. Sour grapes? Perhaps.

But star shows have their genesis in the dos organised by gangster Dawood Ibrahim, whose current whereabouts are unknown, but who then made Dubai a hot spot for filmi entertainers.

Aishwarya Rai. Click for bigger pic!

Film stars who had till then shut themselves up in ivory towers believing inaccessibility enhances appeal, provided the glamour for Dawood's parties in Dubai.

In return for an informal item or two at birthdays and weddings there, some stars allegedly got free junkets to Dubai. Lavish shopping money and gifts were the bonus, it is claimed.

Today, anything to do with Dawood in Dubai is poison for the film industry. This change of heart follows the trouble over Gulshan Kumar's murder that resulting in many stars having to explain their Dubai visits to the police.

Salman Khan. Click for bigger pic!

While some stars like Ajay Devgan shun stage appearances, most others have worked out their own personal rules that they stick to. Madhuri Dixit, who sizzled at the Zee TV awards, won't do an Ek Do Teen for any amount at any function.

"We haven't been asked to so far," candidly admits Rakeshnath, her guide and secretary, without whose nod Madhuri won't move a professional muscle. "But I personally don't think Madhuri would like to dance in anybody's house or at any private function or wedding," he says.

Madhuri Dixit. Click for bigger pic!

Madhuri has it all spelt out clearly. You want Dixit to inaugurate a new place or grace a function for a fee? Make the cheque out to Nanavati Hospital, Bombay. That's her way of doing her bit for charity. You want Madhuri for a commercial stage show in Indore or anywhere in the world? There the rates are different. Now that's professional, so the fee will be suitably commercial.

By the way, the only time Madhuri received an invitation to perform at a private function was when she got a phone call a few months ago to come in and do her bit on stage for a party for the sultan of Brunei.

She turned it down, offering, "I won't perform but I'll attend a function hosted by the sultan of Brunei and not charge a penny for it if the sultan of Brunei calls and invites me personally."

The sultan is yet to call...