Tango and Cash

Akshay Kumar,also for the Govani wedding,reportedly demanded Rs 6 crore instead of his regular Rs 3.5-4 crore. Bunty Walia of GS Entertainment,who had managed the entire event,says,“SRK,Akshay Kumar,Salman Khan,Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor are the most in demand today for high-profile weddings. Amongst the girls it is Kareena Kapoor,Priyanka Chopra,Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone. Both the client and the event management company decide who will perform. But when it comes to expensive stars,it is the client who decides.”

These wedding budgets run into crores and stars are only too happy to be a part of them. Celina Jaitley,who had performed at the Mittal wedding in Paris and now once again at the Govani pre-wedding party,says. “To me it is the family and the event management company that matters more than the money. And the Govanis are like family. Don’t we dance at our cousin’s or friend’s weddings?”

Mukesh,who performed for the first time at the same wedding,was quite upbeat. “It was the first time I performed at a wedding and it was fun,” he quips. Mugdha Godse,who has been asked to perform at weddings,but has resisted till now,says,“It’s an actor’s job to entertain and dancing at weddings is one way to entertain. I don’t have a song I can perform on,but when I do,I definitely will.”

According to Tanushree Dutta,most of the weddings today are gala events and the shows are choreographed and planned like award functions. “Of course,I use my discretion where I should perform,but generally we feel secure at these places as everything about our security is taken care of.”

Except for SRK,most of the stars do not like to say that it is the money which attracts them,but the fact is that besides their fat fees,stars are also lavished with gifts like cars and jewellery,especially by the NRIs. Russian dancers are in major demand for weddings and their charges go up to Rs 15 lakh for a troupe of 20 girls.

But still,there are some who refuse to bow down to the greenbacks. Anil Kapoor,Ajay Devgan,Sunny and Bobby Deol,Kajol,Minissha Lamba,Ayesha Takia,Akshaye Khanna and some other actors are adamant about not performing at weddings. Devgan,at one time,had said dancing at shows was like doing a mujra and Sunny had once commented: “Men don’t dance!”