Good show? Child’s pay

Having the latest gadgets is oh-so-passe and all those foreign trips with the family are not fascinating anymore.
Children���s channel Nick recently conducted a survey of 2300 children in the age group of 10-15 years, across 15 Indian cities. The survey concluded that having good looks is very low on kids��� priority list, with less than 10 per cent opting for it.
Similarly, a holiday abroad appealed to just 14 per cent of the kids. However, most votes, more than 31 per cent, went to becoming famous on television, followed by 24 per cent to just wanting to be rich.
Call it inspiration or what you will, but parents believe that watching other kids on television is what inspires children to want to be popular on TV. It might be tough for child stars to juggle classes and shooting schedules, but children are increasingly getting fascinated by showbusiness.
Agrees Renu Sood, the mother of DPS, RK Puram student Mayank Sood, ���We can���t blame children for wanting to become popular quickly. When they watch children their own age or even younger making a name for themselves on TV, they aspire to be in their shoes, face the arclights and be in the limelight. Going out with the family on foreign trips may make the child popular among her/his friends, but not with the public.���
Agrees Shilpa Khara, mother of 10-year-old child actress Swini Khara, who won people���s hearts and critical appreciation for the role of Sexy in Cheeni Kum, ���Children are quite aware of what���s happening around them these days. There���s no dearth of inspiration on TV for children to want to be a part of showbiz. Many Indian and international TV shows have made children popular stars. Swini���s friends complain to her about how their parents are full of praise for Swini. The children, in that case, would like to be as popular as she is.���
Swini seconds that, saying, ���My friends in school get very excited every time I tell them that I have signed a new film. They ask me how it feels to be working with big Bollywood stars. My friends keep complaining about how I get preference over other students. I am allowed to leave early and take more holidays, while they are not.���
Not very long ago, the ministry for women and child development had objected to children below the age of 14 years participating in reality shows, as these shows put unnecessary pressure on the kids. ���It all depends on the parents,��� says Shilpa, and explains, ���In some cases, there may be parental pressure on the kids. After Swini was through with the reality show Zara Nachke Dikha, she got an offer for Ek Se Badhkar Ek. We turned the offer down since we didn���t want her to be too tired. In Zara Nachke Dikha, it was also the victory or the defeat of the entire team at the end. The onus wasn���t on Swini as an individual. What the ministry should actually have taken into consideration is the way sometimes judges talk to children on the shows. Some of the remarks are acidic enough to cause children to get depressed.���
Avika Gor, the child artiste playing the lead role in the TV serial Balika Vadhu, maintains that there is absolutely no pressure on her and she has become adept at juggling her classes, homework and shooting schedules. ���I don���t feel stressed at all. In fact, I enjoy all the work that I do and also the attention that I get,��� she says. Avika also reveals that she wants to become Miss Universe when she grows up. ���I will continue with TV shows, do modelling, charity shows and finally, participate in beauty pageants.���
���What the child takes up depends entirely on the decision of the parents,��� says Avika���s father Sameer Gor, and adds, ���I believe that every child has some special abilities and they should not get involved in an intensely competitive situation at such an early age. That���s why we will try and keep Avika away from reality shows.���
Little kids, big money
Darsheel Safary
He���s the superstar of child actors in Bollywood right now, not just because the movie that���s still the toast of the industry, Taare Zameen Par, was entirely his movie, but also because the fees he���s been getting since are big enough to make as much news as grown up actors��� fees do. According to sources, Darsheel has been demanding a fee of close to Rs 70 lakhs for every movie he plans to sign. And ask Darsheel���s reel mother in TZP, Tisca Chopra, about ���her son��� demanding so much money, and she says, ���Why not? He���s talented!��� With one award-winning movie under his belt and many to be signed and acted in, Darsheel is already a lakhpati, if sources are to be believed.
Swini Khara
Ad gurus love Swini Khara, because she can learn her lines and figure out what she has to do in just a few minutes. So it���s fitting that she started her acting career with ads and then did her first movie in 2005, Elaan, after which she shot for Chingaari. But her most famous role so far has been in Cheeni Kum, where she played the role of Amitabh Bachchan���s little cancer-afflicted friend who helps him propose to Tabu, and then eventually dies. Swini will soon be seen in Paathshaala. This talented little girl gets Rs 6 to 15 lakhs per movie.
Avika S Gor
The pretty little girl who plays the lead in Balika Vadhu is already being invited for jewellery launches and fashion shows, and has given more interviews than she would have had to for her admission in a school. Avika S Gor, better known as Anandi, the name of her character in Balika Vadhu, is the new kid on the block who has made it big. She is a household name now, but few people know that this is not Avika���s first show on TV. She has earlier done soaps like Rajkumar Arryan, Chalti Ka Naam Gaddi and Karam Apna Apna. But it is Balika Vadhu that clicked with the masses and also raised the bar as far as money goes for little Avika. Initially, she was getting Rs 10-12,000, just like any other kid on TV, but now she���s getting close to about Rs 15-25,000 per episode.
Ahsaas Channa
Ahsaas started her career with ads and the movie Vaastu Shastra, where she played Sushmita Sen���s son. More ads came her way and then she did Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and My Friend Ganesha, again playing a boy. If you ask this little powerhouse of talent, she says she does not like boys. ���They are so not intelligent,��� she complains, wrinkling her nose. Ahsaas played the first role as a girl child in the TV soap Kasamh Se and then played the role of a little girl recently in Ram Gopal Verma���s Phoonk. She gets anything between Rs 6 and 15 lakhs per movie. It depends on the production house and how long a role she has in the movie.