Kolkata | New Delhi: Jewellery brands are scrambling to get new celebrity endorsements, both at the national and regional level, sparking a spike in celebrity fees and stringent terms and conditions. But the demand is skewed in favour of glamour icons.

A senior executive of a prominent jewellery brand, asking not to be identified, said the asking price of big stars is roughly around Rs. 8 crore a day.

“It's becoming unviable for the business. Even at this hefty price, they are reluctant to give more than three days in a year to the brand they are endorsing, won’t change costumes more than two times on the day of shooting, and won’t work more than eight hours on that day including traffic time.”

He said actors such as Allu Arjun, who used to charge Rs. 35 lakhs a few years ago, now charge around Rs. 6 crores a day after the stupendous success of the movie Pushpa.

While Madhuri Dixit charges Rs. 1 crore for 8 hours, newer generation actresses like Kiara Advani charges Rs. 1.5-2 crore per day which includes photoshoot, opening of stores and attending events related to the brand.

“We have Kajol as our brand ambassador for the last 8 years and we are on a hunt for a fresh face. But we are not getting one as every other jeweller has booked someone or the other new-gen actors,” said Anish Varghese, head of marketing at Joyalukkas.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds have roped in Alia Bhatt this year, Junior NTR, Anil Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Karthik Sivakumar, popularly known as Karthi, who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Malabar signed up Alia Bhatt for the first time, while it renewed its contract with Junior NTR, who became famous for the Natu Natu song in the film RRR.

Mia By Tanishq has appointed Bollywood actor Rakul Preet Singh as its latest brand ambassador. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja is the face of Zoya Jewels. “We have signed with south Indian actress Nayanthara as our new brand ambassador to enhance the visibility of the brand in the southern region, where we have plans to expand,” said Ajoy Chawla, CEO of Tanishq, though he refused to divulge the details of the terms and conditions with the actress. Reportedly, Nayanthara charges ₹5 crore for brand partnerships.

It’s raining brand endorsements for film stars from the South. After the term “pan-India” became ubiquitous in the wake of the successes of their films and OTT shows, actors from Allu Arjun to Samantha Ruth Prabhu (of The Family Man and Oo Antava fame) are being courted aggressively by advertisers. Trade insiders say that the South Indian stars are now charging 8X of their earlier fees (pre-2021) for brand partnerships.

“We too are looking for one for our new line of silver jewellery. But everyone is booked. Thanks to social media like Instagram, Facebook or X, consumers can constantly see the celebs and therefore for jewellers, it acts as a major brand recall. So, the jewellers are chasing celebrities to endorse," explained Saurabh Gadgil, MD of PNG Jewellers, adding that they are confident of getting a new face soon.

Suvankar Sen, MD of Senco Gold and Diamonds, said his company has roped in Kiara Advani and she is very professional.