Star power with a price tag

Gurnaaz Kaur

We saw some big names from the music industry, including Jassi Gill, Babbal Rai, Satinder Sartaj, and Amrit Maan, perform at various hotels and clubs in the tricity. It was a glittering year-end celebration with the star power shining bright. And all the joy, music and cheer to say goodbye to 2023 was worth it! But do you really know the worth of it?

While you and I enjoyed the performances of these singers on New Year’s Eve by paying a certain cover charge, as we turn the page to 2024, let’s take a sneak peek at what goes into signing up a celebrity for the top parties in town.

The demand list

• Artistes charge anywhere between Rs 4 and 20 lakh for a New Year’s Eve event.
• Their popularity determines the price.
• There is also travel, stay, food, bouncers and technical equipment to pay for.
• Few celebrities have started managing their own events on a profit-sharing basis with hotels and clubs.
• Celebrity DJs, who charge Rs 2-3 lakh per party, ask for a 50-60 per cent raise on such occasions.

December 31 is the culmination of not just the year but also the effort put into organising the celebrity event, the planning for which begins sometimes five months in advance. Shortlisting an artiste and finalising the theme for the evening is the first step. Once the organisers get in touch with celebrities to know their charges, it becomes the defining factor for the following plan of action. As Sanjeev Ranjan, the FnB director at JW Marriott explains, “We approach five to 10 artistes based on our budget. Negotiations are done; there’s a discussion about logistics, but no concrete decision is made up until mid-October or November.” JW Marriott guests witnessed an electrifying performance by Amrit Maan this time. In the past, it has invited Sunanda Sharma, Jasmine Sandlas, among others.

Sanjeev adds, “That’s because the singer’s manager doesn’t give a final quote. He knows New Year’s Eve is the biggest event of the year for him as well as for us, so he waits to see the kind of offers others in the hospitality industry are making. Having said that, any good artiste will hardly settle for something below Rs 20 lakh.”

This fee may or may not include other requirements of an artiste. There is travel, stay, food and bouncers. This list also has a cost. Another important thing for consideration is the tech rider. If simply put, it’s all the technical needs—such as band, stage setup, equipment, sound, mixer, mic, etc. “Some artistes have their tech rider and come with their band for background music, but many times organisers have the responsibility to arrange those things as well, and that too at an extra price. So, you can add another Rs 2-3 lakh over and above the charges of an artiste that range from anywhere between Rs 4 and 30 lakh, depending on their popularity. It may seem like a money-making event from the outside, but most of the time, owners of hotels like mine just end up paying from their pocket to see a successful event,” says Ginny Chawla, the owner of Altius Boutique Hotel, who arranged a performance by singer Armaan Bedil.

Ginny asserts that the idea is to bring something new for their regular clients and introduce the first-timers to the best from their kitchen.

Pankaj Chaudhary, founder-director of Proamaze, has experience of over 20 years in the hotel and event management industry. Having organised performances by Jassi Gil, Babbal Rai, Harrdy Sandhu, Afsana Khan, Prabh Gill in Chandigarh, he says, “New Year is a time when any artiste almost doubles his charges for a performance. Even celebrity DJs who usually take Rs 2-3 lakh demand a 50-60 per cent hike in their usual fee.”

A new trend that Pankaj says is setting in is, “Some celebrities are now managing their own events. Satinder Sartaj, for instance, has a team, and his performance at Radisson Red, Mohali, was taken care of by them. In such cases, artistes usually decide to pay the hotel for the venue and food and be in-charge of the rest.”