Showtime for Bollywood

After making their presence felt on reality shows, Bollywood stars are now increasingly appearing in cameos on television serials to promote their upcoming films. Stars such as like Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Salman Khan, Mallika Sherawat and Neetu Kapoor are increasingly making a beeline for serials, an arrangement that benefits both big and small screen stars, according to industry experts. “Television is the best way to connect with the audience,” says Aatish Kapadia, writer-director of Khichdi-The Movie, the cast of which appeared Sab TV’s show, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, recently. Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor, too, starred in the same show to promote their recent release, Do Dooni Chaar. “The small screen has a huge and dedicated audience. Somehow, the characters of our film could be integrated into the show as both are aimed at family audiences,” the film’s director Habib Faisal said.
Sometimes, the script of a show is tweaked to accommodate film stars. “The actors can be weaved into the script in such a way that viewers can connect with them,” says Kapadia.
Abhishek Bachchan made an appearance on Colors’ show Balika Vadhu prior to his flop film, Drona, while actors Sharman Joshi and Vatsal Seth appeared on a Valentine’s Day special of a show when they had the romcom, Toh Baat Pakki, coming up. Actor Ajay Devgn will feature in an upcoming episode of Crime Patrol to promote his film, Aakrosh.
Other A-listers have also been bitten by the television bug include. While Akshay had a cameo appearance on Star Plus’ Sasural Genda Phool for his movie Khatta Meetha, Salman Khan was seen promoting Dabangg on Laagi Tujhse Lagan, aired on Colors. Emraan Hashmi and Prachi Desai made a guest appearance on Sony’s long-running detective show, CID, for Once Upon A Time in Mumbai.
John Abraham is set to feature on two Sab TV shows — FIR and Taarak Mehta — where he will be seen promoting Abbas Tyrewala’s Jhootha Hi Sahi. Mallika Sherawat too will make an appearance on Colors’ show Naa Aana Iss Des Ladoo to promote her much-awaited film, Hisss.