Where are the good roles for actors like me in films today?

Rajesh Khanna

Their argument was that it was only for those who had failed on the big screen or who wanted to use it as a stepping stone to Bollywood.

But all that seems to have changed.

Who wants to be...

The biggest catch for television has been superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Amitabh Bachchan is to anchor a show on the Star Plus television channel.

Bollywood stars are changing their perception of TV

It is modelled on the hugely popular American show 'Who wants to be a millionaire'.

The channel has already started promoting the show in a big way and Bombay has been plastered with hoardings of Amitabh with a wad of notes in his hand.

Another ex-superstar who has been lured by the small screen is Rajesh Khanna, who was Amitabh's biggest industry rival in the 1970s.

Khanna, who has begun shooting for a TV soap in Bombay, denies that working on the small screen is a come down.

They have to do it for their survival

Film journalist Suguna Sunderam

"Where are the good roles for actors like me in films today?

"The truth is that the reach of TV is much more than cinema today and one episode of my serial is likely to be watched by more people than a super-hit film," he said.

Money talks

Film journalist, Suguna Sunderam, says its a bread and butter issue for many film stars.

"They have to do it for their survival. It's not just the money... they also have this craving for attention and good roles," he says.

Will their aura fade away on the small screen?

"Whether or not they like it, the fact is that today TV offers them more than cinema," he adds.

While film stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna can hope to get a fresh lease of life for their careers and TV channels can expect to rake in more revenue, not everybody is impressed.

"I really don't think whether I would be able to appreciate an Amitabh who would be there in my living room - ready to be changed by a flick of the remote by kids who just dig channel surfing," says media executive, Nina Dasgupta.

That is a danger the big screen stars would have to learn to live with on the small screen - the aura and mystique they so carefully built up over the years may just fade away.