the crores of money in tinseldom ~ State pays 1.40 crore to Kareena Kapoor

I do see Cinema ~ but feel disoriented when I see the fanfare of cinestars and the amounts spent on Cinema ~ from its production, the fee of various artistes and the money spent in making a movie and more in promoting it.  In a Nation afflicted by poverty and malnourishment, when it comes to Cinema, people talk only in 8 digits i.e., crores

Yesterday I posted of a pathetic instance on an eventful day ~ those who listened to Chief minister Sheila Dikshit were silent but couldn't hide their disbelief. Speaking on the occasion of the launch of Delhi government's cash-for-food programme,Annshree Yojana, on Saturday, Dikshit argued that Rs.600/-  - the cash subsidy - was adequate for buying the monthly "dal, roti and chawal" for a poor family of around five. UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi was on the stage at Thyagaraja Stadium to launch the scheme.  Sheila Dikshit is no ordinary politician; she has been the  Chief Minister of Delhi since 1998. Rs.600/- as a political doll is good ~ but everyone knows that it would not last more than couple of days for the family ~ for those in the city, it would not suffice for a visit to any of the mall !!  

A friend of mine has responded of an instance where one of the not so rich State had paid  Rs 1.40 crore to a  Bollywood actress for a performance on stage……. Where was the need ? ~ I was bewildered and sincerely hoped that he was not right, which he eventually was. 

Away from this, read in Times of India today of an unprecedented move in Tollywood, whence  a director was asked to pay the producers compensation of 2.5 crores  for exceeding the ‘agreed’ budget of a film.   Crore ~ yes 1 followed by 7 zeroes Rs. 1,00,00,000/-

The news mentions of the producers of the Prabhas-Tamannaah starrer-‘Rebel’ - J Baghavan and Pulla Rao,  reportedly lodging a complaint with the Producers Council against director Raghava Lawrence for overshooting the film’s budget.  It is stated that  Lawrence had given a written agreement that he would make the film at a cost of 22.5 crore, but the budget has gone beyond the agreed amount and as such, they had demanded a refund from the director.  The reports adds that after carrying out extensive talks and a series of discussions with various parties, the coordination committee, which consists of a 20-member team, chaired by K L Naranaya, directed Lawrence to pay 2.5 crore to the producers as compensation. This is the first time that a director is being penalised for shooting the movie beyond the budget limit. The producers, in their complaint, claimed that they were running into losses of 5.5 crores since the director exceeded the budget.

Cinema is pure entertainment but imagine the amount of money involved.  My favourite Sujatha rightly wrote a story on the cine industry titled ‘dream factory’……….

Sure, you know of the State of Chattisgarh, formed on November 1, 2000 by partitioning 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh. Raipur is the capital of Chhattisgarh, which is the 10th largest state in India. Chhattisgarh borders the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.  

The State celebrates its Founding Day  Ceremony every year from 1 to 7 November. The event is named as Rajyotsava. Along with Rajyotsava, Trade Fair cum Exhibition of development works of all the Government Departments is organized to extend the platform to reach out to the consumers of Chhattisgarh. The Rajyotsava & Enterprise Chhattisgarh is a premium annual event on the city calendar, attracts a good number of visitors form the potentials markets of Central India. All that sounds well…….. but ..

Not the reports that the Chhattisgarh government has admitted that it paid a whopping sum of Rs 1.40 crore to Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor for her performance last month at the state`s anniversary function.  It is stated that it was admitted in the State assembly that  245 artistes performed during the weeklong (November 1-7) state foundation anniversary — Rajyotsava 2012 — celebrations held in various districts and the government paid over Rs 5 crore to them  ~ Rs 5,21,22,500/- to be more precise.

Of the honorarium paid out by the government, Kareena Kapoor  topped the list at Rs 1,40,71,000 and her show was hardly for eight minutes.  The other artistes include Sonu Nigam (Rs 36,50,000), Sunidhi Chauhan (Rs 32,00,000), Dia Mirza (Rs 25,00,000), Himesh Reshamia (Rs 24,00,000) and Pankaj Udhas (Rs 90,000).  The Minister is quoted as informing the house that they spent Rs 54,62,461 on inviting the artistes and their travel expenditure while the bill for artistes` lodging and food was put at Rs 11,67,956.

- and in the same land, a Scientist at Govt facility requires permission of his authorities for travelling in Train or by economy class in air, and would be perhaps be entitled to stay in a Single room accommodation of less than Rs.5000/-

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

18th Dec 2012.