On the other hand, Sanjay Dutt admits, "When the going was good, I took a handsome price. But when there is a downslide, I am prepared to face a pay cut. Why only me, all of us will have to play it to the market mood," he adds sportingly.

Irrfan, the poster boy of new-wave mid-budget cinema informs that the budgets of two of his UTV films have been "re-negotiated" but he argues that he never shot up his charges so he's not "cutting down" his price. However he concedes, "For an appropriate project, I am game for a slight cut."

Trade insiders have it that the only stars who have never been in the "rat-race" and are above the recession are Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan because unlike their contemporaries they never hiked their prices disproportionately. Ajay Devgan, who also had stoically held his own and commanded a steady market price even after ‘Golmaal’ turned out to be a hit, has surprisingly chosen these troubled times to hike his fees, "After the success of ‘Golmaal Returns’ he is contemplating raising his price," said his spokesperson, Parag Desai.

If the male bastion is facing the axe, the going doesn't look too good for the female of the species,"The first to succumb to recession will be the girls. It doesn't make too much difference if you cast a newbie opposite Salman Khan," reasons Vinod Mirani.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, one of the highest-paid actors agrees,"The economic crisis has touched every person's life, and we will all deal with it in whatever way it hits us. I do not know much about the business aspects of films, but work wise, so far so good."

... contd.