Celeb Hosts Can’t Get Ratings, What Will?

The moral of the story is very clear — ageing cine idols alone cannot hook viewers to your programme on television. You need rock solid content for that. Recent shows anchored by superstars like ShahRukh Khan, Salman Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Kajol and Ajay Devgan have all failed to create a buzz and sway audiences.

For instance, Dus Ka Dum hosted by Salman Khan on Sony Entertainment Television has failed to get viewers to the channel in any significant way. The show delivered 2.5 viewership ratings on the day of its debut, according to TAM Media Research.

Media pundits had hoped that the show would open with a rating of at least 4-5. The actual numbers were way below anybody’s expectations. To get a feel of how small the viewership was, the inaugural match of the DLF Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers was 7.2.

Salman Khan can draw cold comfort from the fact that his peers from the world of films have done little better. Junoon, the musical show on NDTV Imagine endorsed by Hrithik Roshan, did not even figure in the top 100 shows on its launch day.

ShahRukh Khan’s quiz show, Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez hain, on Star Plus got a rating of 4.61 on April 25, before it dropped to 1.97 on June 6. The Kajol-Ajay Devgan show Rock and Roll Family too does not figure in the top 100 ratings.

With intense competition in the Hindi general entertainment space (on last count, there were as many as 11 channels, with three more likely to join the bandwagon), broadcasters have turned to film stars to keep their cash registers ringing.

To be fair, the experiment is not altogether new. Star Plus was the first to use it successfully some years ago when it launched Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan. Such was the success of the show that the channel did a second edition of it and a third with ShahRukh Khan.

Around the time Bachchan was hooking audiences with his unmistakable Lock kiya jayes, Zee Telefilms launched a rival show with Govinda and ten times the prize money. It sank without a trace. That is when some media experts first realised that films and television were two different worlds, with not much osmosis.

Now, a few years later, broadcasters have fallen back on film stars to get ratings. The stars, mind you, don’t come cheap. ShahRukh Khan earns nearly Rs 1 crore for every episode of his current show, while Salman Khan costs Sony Rs 80 lakh per show. Kajol and Ajay Devgan charge around Rs 20 lakh each, while Urmila Matondkar gets close to Rs 15 lakh.

Media experts say audiences no longer find the presence of a film star enough to watch a show. With an overdose of reality shows on television, things have taken a turn for the worse. Some broadcasters admit the formula has failed to deliver and they are grappling with how to deal with the situation.

“There is a fatigue factor among audiences when it comes to shows hosted by celebrities because they no longer hold uniqueness,” says Tarun Mehra, business head, Zee TV.

Adds Prem Kamath, vice-president (marketing & communications), Star India: “One has to review if the time slot in which the program is aired has grown after the show or not.”

It has advertisers confused too. “Since there are quiet a few celebrity shows on air, advertisers tend to choose a program which has a well defined marketing plan,” says R Gowthaman, managing director, Mindshare.

Adds Group M Managing Partner Hiren Pandit: “These shows are heavily promoted by broadcasters since they hope that it is a channel driver.”

As a result, ad slots on these shows are being sold at prices way below what the channels ask for. It’s definitely time television channels think twice before lining up film stars to grab the attention of viewers.

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Kajol Finally Yes to KJo

KARAN JOHAR is on top of the world. Kajol has finally gone through his entire bound script and agreed to do his film, My Name is Khan opposite Shah Rukh Khan.

Karan had patiently waited for Kajol to give him a reply but she had been dillydallying.

She then became busy with U Me Aur Hum involving herself in the business aspect of the film too.

At that point she had come out with a statement saying that she had not read the script and therefore could not say yes or no to Karan, explained an insider.

“At that stage Karan who is her good friend could not understand why Kajol had made such a statement to the Press.

Usually she does not ponder over his scripts nor does she act so pricey.

He was a bit annoyed at her sudden starry attitude and he definitely was not going to take it lying down. He decided that he was going to ignore her and think of signing someone else,” continued the insider.

“Of course his next choice was Kareena Kapoor. They had just made up after not talking to each other for almost a year. Kareena knowing which side her bread is buttered decided to make up with Karan.

Her silent war with him had cost her a lot. After all Karan is a powerful director and producer in this industry and if he does not consider someone a good actress or person, many of his sycophants will follow suit.

Karan had made it clear to one and all that Kareena was off his list and gradually Kareena realised her big mistake.

You do not make enemies of the powerful even if you think you are a ‘Kapoor’.” “Karan decided to play his cards cleverly. He sent out feelers to the industry that he was keen on signing Kareena. But few knew that this was a plan on Karan’s part to show Kajol that he waits for nobody.

In his heart Karan was still hoping that Kajol would agree. He felt she needed a push to ‘read’ the script and decide. His pride was bitterly hurt when Kajol gave that statement to the Press thus treating him like some outsider.

He felt that if she had anything to say she could have picked up the phone and told him to his face.

Kajol is known to be brash and impulsive, so Karan who was in no mad hurry decided to leave her alone.” The insider continued, “But fate brought them together even if during a very sad time. Kajol was broken hearted when her Dad passed away and she turned to her good friend Karan for solace. After all they had been close buddies for far too many years. It was during these days that they talked about the film and Kajol explained that her main worry was that she did not want to leave her baby Nysa alone while shooting for a film over long periods. One does not know what transpired between them and how they were able to solve all her problems but Kajol decided to go through the script, loved her role and decided to say yes!” “People all the while were blaming Ajay for Kajol not accepting the role immediately. Ajay and Shah Rukh have never been friends and rumour-mongers always blamed Ajay for not approving of the Shah Rukh-Kajol pairing.

Remember the only friend not invited to the Ajay–Kajol wedding was Shah Rukh? No one has ever confirmed whether he was not invited or he chose not to attend but even though he was in Mumbai he did not attend! Friends insist that the two did not like each other.

One will never know the real reasons as to why Kajol took eternity to agree but all’s well that ends well.

The only sad person in this scenario will be Kareena who was all set to sign on the dotted line.

It is not everyday that one gets to star in a Karan Johar film! Especially one that is going to be produced by Karan and Shah Rukh.” concluded the insider.

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Ajay & SRK’s Movie Connection

 

Shah Rukh Khan’s recent announcement in Variety magazine about producing an animated kiddie flick has stirred a hornet’s nest. According to the Ajay Devgan camp, the stories of SRK’s and Kumar Mangat’s animation film, Toonpur Ka Super Hero, are the same!

A source reveals that Ajay’s camp is miffed that Khan is going ahead with a project that is very similar to theirs in terms of ideation and plot. The similarity isn’t just about who the film is catering to, but also the treatment. Both the movies are using state-of-the-art effects and will have a video game feel.

Ajay’s angry

Apparently, Devgan was infuriated when Shah Rukh roped in Anubhav Sinha for the project. “Ajay has been conceiving Toonour Ka Super Hero even before he started work on U Me Aur Hum. In fact, during Cash, Ajay had discussed the project with Anubhav and now Anubhav is working with Shah Rukh on a suspiciously similar project.”

Kumar Mangat says, “I have heard that the stories of Anubhav’s film and Toonpur being similar. Some people in the trade have informed me but when I checked, I found out that Anubhav Sinha’s story is different. I know that he’s making an animation film but I am not sure if Shah Rukh has said yes to the film.”

Both Anubhav Sinha and Kumar Mangat are working at breakneck speed to complete their films they want to release their film first.

It’s a race

Mangat says, “I don’t know about Anubhav’s film but 80 per cent of our animation work has already been done. We will complete shooting by June and definitely plan to have a Diwali or Christmas release.

Doing an animation film is no child’s play. It takes months to work on a character — extensive knowledge and research.”

Crowded space

He continues, “Kirit is an experienced ad filmmaker with his own animation company. One wrong frame and the entire shooting gets wasted. We have been working on Toonpur since last 15 months and now only two songs including one with Ajay and Kajol need to be shot. Ajay and Kajol’s song is called Chal baliye chal Toonpur chaliye and will be shot with 5000 animated characters.”

Mangat is roping in noted animation specialist Charles Darby for TKSH. Kumar Mangat says, “We are in talks with a Hollywood technician who has worked with Steven Spielberg in his films. Everything will get finalised in a few days.”

When asked if his film is similar to TKSH Shah Rukh says, “No.”

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SRK Spoofed!

 

Whether you like Rajkumar Santoshi’s latest film Halla Bol or not, what you would surely enjoy is the unsubtle way in which the film takes potshots at some top stars of Bollywood.

There is a scene in the film in which Ajay Devgan ’s character (Sameer Khan, an actor) speaks about product endorsements by Bollywood stars. With a cynic tone in voice, Devgan mocks Bollywood stars who endorse products just for the sake of big bucks without caring to use the product themselves.

Devgan’s character even goes on to mock a Bollywood star who endorses hair oil without ever using the product.

The allusion becomes clearer when Devgan spoofs SRK and mimics him, saying: “Thanda Thanda, Cool Cool.

Now, we all know that this is SRK’s punchline in an advertisement of Navratna oil that he endorses.

In the similar scene, Devgan carries the joke further by ridiculing the stars who dance at weddings of rich people for money. This, again, is an indirect potshot at SRK who is known to have danced at some high profile weddings.

A source from the industry says: “Shah Rukh hasn’t yet seen ‘Halla Bol’ but he must have by now heard about the scenes in the film that seem to mock him. Given his sporty nature, he is not likely to get offended by the scenes.”

Even Rajkumar Santoshi says he hasn’t heard any complaint from Khan about the scenes.

It may be recalled that Bollywood veterans like Manoj Kumar and Dev Anand were spoofed in SRK’s home production ‘Om Shanti Om’. In fact, Manoj Kumar had openly expressed his displeasure over spoof scenes in the film. However, peace was made just in time and the issue was not taken to the courts.

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