Attention all Sonu Niigaam Ji fans !! Get ready ...

The ballooning budget of the Commonwealth Games makes headlines each day, but it has some top musicians playing at less than half their usual price. The musicians aren't complaining, but rather, are excited to represent their country at the Games. The cultural fest begins on October 1 – two days ahead of the Games. Its inaugural show at the Games Village will see Parikrama opening the fest on day 1, followed by Half Step Down on day 2, ThemClones on day 4, Kailash Kher on day 12 and Indian Ocean on the last day of the fest, October 13.

A source overheard one of the musicians commenting lightheartedly, " Maine socha apni country ke naam pe agar kam paise mein perform karne ko keh rahein hain toh negotiate nahin karna chahiye. We have some responsibility as citizens. But since I got to know of their real budget, I feel I could've made a lot of money!"

Jokes apart, they're all planning to give memorable performances. Shankar Mahadevan says, "We'll do something special, something that'll enhance the spirit of the country and the city." He admits that the price at which they are performing "is not even comparable to how much they charge normally," but adds, "How can we think of charging that much? It's an honour to perform at such a prestigious event." Surojit Dev of ThemClones agrees, "Yes, we are performing at a rebate. Had it been only us, we might have had some regrets, but this discounting is done by all those who are performing. Anyway, playing at the Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Indian Ocean too, decided to perform at a token amount. "And whether the people in power are doing their job or not is not our concern; our focus is on supporting our country and the city in whatever way we can," states Dhruv Jagasia, manager, Indian Ocean.

Performing at the Games will also mean international exposure, which is also why the moolah matter's turned secondary. " Rock n' roll bands have a niche market; we don't perform for such a wide audience usually, so playing for this event is an international platform for us, hence it's a great opportunity," explains Dhawal Mudgal of Half Step Down. But there are a few more apprehensions like that of security. Kailash Kher, who was worried earlier, sounded positive when we spoke to him. "In terms of security, Delhi, I think, is the safest, so I'm all excited and looking forward to it," he told us.
A source close to the cultural committee reveals that earlier, there were four-five festivals planned, but were later reduced to two. While Kunal Ganjawala said he's yet to give his final nod, Alka Yagnik's spokesperson confirmed her presence. When DT spoke to Subir Malik, manager and keyboardist, Parikrama, he neither denied nor confirmed the band's performance for the event. Others expected to perform are Hariharan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan, Sonu Niigaam Ji, Himesh Reshammiya, Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhwinder Singh.

However, all are not happy with the fee compromise. Rudy Wallang of Soulmate, which is performing on October 7, says, "Yes, we were told that all have brought down their fees. And we do look at the positive side, which is that we're getting to perform at such an event. Considering the amount the not-so-deserving are earning out of this, it's not about regrets, it's just that there should be a little more respect for the musicians. And in this case, we could have been paid just the amount we usually charge, if not extra." There's some 'wealth' loss 'common' to all these musicians, yet they aren't playing spoilsport, what say??