Bollywood big actors are turning to television screen just to promote their films. Reality shows have proved to be the biggest promotional platforms for the films.      

Keen to grab the popularity on reality shows, the cast of Bollywood biggies like Om Shanti Om, Saawariya, Aaja Nachle, Goal and Aamir Khan’s forthcoming film Taare Zameen Par, waltzed and sang on the sets of reality shows.    

Madhuri Dixit said, “Reality shows are great promotional platforms, as TV is a very strong medium and reaches  a wider audience.”

Kunal Kapoor, Madhuri’s co-star in the not-so-well-doing Aaja Nachle, agreed, saying, “When a programme has wide and diverse audience, there is nothing wrong in promoting your film through these shows. You can connect with people better”.

Amitabh Bachchan, Pandit Jasraj, Jagjit Singh, Lata Mangeshkar, A.R. Rahman do feel shy in appearing on these shows.   

“Star presence contributes to the popularity of the serial and celebrities who appear on the shows get repeatedly registered in the minds of audiences that increases their fame,” reasoned Kunal Ganjawala, a jury member of music talent hunt “Chhote Ustad” in STAR Plus.

“It works both ways. Actors and producers make their case in front of a large audience before and soon after their movie hits theatres because they are aware of the reach of television,” Hussain  Kuwajerwala, the host of dance reality show "Nach Baliye", told IANS.

“While the presence of stars like SRK or Madhuri provides full-on entertainment to viewers that helps it (reality shows) become a hit,” he maintained.

It appears the trend is here to stay and would get bigger in the coming years.

Santosh Shende, project manager of talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, gave another side of the picture.

“With a lot of reality shows hitting TV channels, there is tough competition and the challenge is to retain audience loyalty by doing something new,” said Shende.