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| BAND BAJAYA: Abhijeet Sawant sang just one stanza of a song, waved at the crowd and left |
Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant put in a blink-and-miss appearance at the Udan Geet Sandhya, an orchestra, whose members are visually impaired. The reason — the organisers fell Rs 70,000 short of his promised fee of Rs 1.5 lakh.
"We called Abhijeet for our programme on October 22 to attract good sponsors and popularise our band. Abhijeet's cousin Sudhir Chokekar demanded Rs 3.05 lakh for an hour and finally settled for Rs 1.5 lakh," said Deepak Soni, the 24-year-old director of the band. Says producer Keval Haria, "We took some loans and paid them an advance of Rs 80,000. We sold some passes for Rs 400 and recovered Rs 1.15 lakh. After repaying our loans, we had Rs 35,000. Then some sponsors backed out and the budget went haywire."
Five-minute wonder
"We did not have the money to pay the rest of the money to Abhijeet. We pleaded with Sudhir not to cancel the show. We said it would be fine if Abhijeet could come for just half-an-hour. Abhijeet came, greeted the audience, spoke a few words of sympathy, sang the first stanza of Mohabbatein Lootaunga and left. It was all over within five minutes, without as much as a goodbye," says Sony. "Small sponsors and pass holders think we used Abhijeet Sawant's name to fleece them," Haria says.
My price
Abhijeet admitted he made a short appearance, but saw nothing wrong in doing so. "You may check my rates with the media coordinator of Sony TV. Ask them what I charge for singing a stanza and giving a few autographs. I took only Rs 80,000 for the programme, gave several autographs and sang a stanza of Mohabbatein Lootaunga. If they wanted me to sing more, they should have told me. I would have sung two more songs. I can't help it if they don't have any courtesy. Even my coordinator Sudhir did not ask me to wait."
Chokekar said, "Abhijeet gave them their money's worth. He found time in spite of his busy schedule. I have spoken to Abhijeet. He is ready to sing for free in their next programme."
If they wanted me to sing more, they should have told me. I would have sung two more songs. I can't help it if they don't have any courtesy
- Abhijeet Sawant
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| Deepak Soni (left) and Keval Haria, the director and producer of the band. (Below) The letter wherein Abhijeet Sawant promised to perform at the show for an hour EOF8 |
source:midday
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