Raw strings ripen

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Saif Ali Khan, the safe choice, is now suddenly a sharp choice for brand endorsements.

Whatever people might say about Saif Ali Khan as an actor, as a brand endorser, critics sure seem to have made their peace with him.

Unlike filmmakers of a romantic bent, marketers are known for hardnosed marketing decisions. And they're signing him up like there's no tomorrow.

In the past few months, the greenhorn Khan of yesteryears (or "safe ally Khan" euphemistically) has got himself deals with Chevrolet Aveo, Lenovo and most strikingly, Colgate "" an oralcare brand that was once thought to think of celebrities as only slightly better than cavities.

Khan's past endorsements include Asian Paints, Frito-Lays, Newport jeans and most audibly, Seagram's Royal Stag "" the brand that gave this otherwise clean-cut kid his "rock star" associations.

Not quite the kind of guy parents wouldn't want their daughter to date, but the kind of guy they can't glower into good behaviour.

While Khan has done some live guitaring too, his most recent career boost appears to have come from back-to-back cinema hits in Salaam Namaste and Parineeta, after which his fee has shot up to about Rs 1.5 crore per brand endorsement.

Though less than the sums commanded by heavyweight celebs Shah Rukh Khan (Rs 2.5 crore for Compaq) and Amitabh Bachchan (similar sums or more), it's just appropriate for a star who can charm audiences targeted by upmarket brands.

Anirban Das Blah, vice-president, Globosport, the celebrity management outfit which handles Khan, contends that there is no star like him in Bollywood today. "Saif has a pretty trendy and niche image," he says, "which reaches out to upper class audiences."

Which explains Lenovo and GM's Aveo. But Colgate MaxFresh? Well, says Blah, the man's making headway in that appeal segment too. The live gigs for Seagram's are doing their bit as well in transforming his image from simply a cool dude to a celebrity in tune with the popular pulse.

"He sits on the cusp of the multiplex audience and the masses," affirms Santosh Desai, president, McCann Erickson India, "which ensures he can endorse a variety of products."

Rather like Newport, where folk musicians adopted electric guitars for the first time, in defiance of traditional categorisation, to make the music a larger phenomenon.

So - is the newly matured young Khan ready to "make it" even larger in life? Yes, says Blah. He's ready for the top league. No, says Desai, it could still be a while yet.

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Saif Ali Khan's previous brand endorsements include:

Asian Paints

Newport jeans

Seagram's Royal Stag

Frito-Lays

Pepsi

Recent additions:

Chevrolet Aveo

Colgate MaxFresh

Lenovo PCs