An average video, with reasonably well known models, could be budgeted at Rs 3.5 lakh. But at the upper end, even Rs 15 lakh is a conservative estimate. "The quality standards may not be so skewed but the budgets are. The infusion of technology can transform even a remix into an extravagant affair. Take for instance, the immensely popular Gabbar Mix. As if featuring Bandit Queen star Nirmal Pandey wasn't enough, the slick video creates a glamourous, Bond-like ambience with a chopperthrown in for good measure," avers Ravindra Narayan, a journalist-turned music video director, who along with Sun ex-editor Vijay Shankar, has made a Ghazal video on a shoestring budget of around Rs 3 lakh for HMV, with the Taj as its setting.

The main cost in music videos is the creative input. A director will usually charge Rs 50,000 upward, depending upon the finesse of his craft and the compulsions of the producer. The other facilities for shooting -- the lights, the cameras, the trolleys can be easily rented. There are more than 500 such studios in Delhi and Mumbai. The cameraman will also charge a fee similar to that of the director, again depending on his profile and skills. Models may not command the millions of a Shah Rukh Khan but will get at least Rs 1,000 a day, even if they are young, unknown faces. A camera can be rented for Rs 5,000 a day.

Then there is makeup and finally, the most important component of editing. An editor will charge Rs 200 an hour for beta editing besides the hourlyrental charges of the studio. The costs may go up at the editing table itself if the director is a perfectionist like Ghosh who was one of the pioneers in the medium in transforming it from the lax CPC look to the cinematically taut, MTV look to Indian videos.

Cut-to-cut editing will leave you lighter by Rs 400 every hour, wheareas if you want two rolls with a video mixer the charges will be Rs 1,200 an hour. The norm, today, though is to use a computer and edit digitally with the help of multimedia. The editing charges for it, though are higher at Rs 1,500 an hour.

Making a music video might be the quickest ticket to countdowns and the hearts of fans, but sound may not help sight every time. "The need of the hour is innovation. Audiences today are more demanding and intelligent. Even my three-year-old son can differentiate between good videos and the usual teasers churned out by Bollywood," claims Pavan Malhotra, manager, product development, The Gramophone Company of India Ltd.

To jump on the musicvideo bandwagon, directors are trying out everything -- from shooting in exotic phoren locales, to roping in top Bollywood stars, to Spielberg-like techno-flicks. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Aafreen was shot in the Rajasthan desert, Kesaria in the Steel City of Bhilai and Sifar, Lucky Ali's second album, in the US. Ali seems to have a penchant for exotic locales. His debut album itself had the Egyptian pyramids as the backdrop. The relentless quest for a jingling cash register is showing on the quality of videos -- repetition and monotony have started creeping in.

"Choreography in most Punjabi music videos today, is more of kite-flying. The kite-dance sequence, where young damsels cavort around the protagonist and simulate the act of flying of a kite, was first used by Daler Mehndi. Now, you see the same in Baba Sehgal's Jugnee and Bhupi's Jogiya khali bali," says Malhotra.

Narayan points to the return of the storyline and simple lyrics in new releases, "A goodstoryline is anyday as effective as a hi-tech video. With the advent of animation and other state-of-the art features employed by gadget-friendly directors led by Ghosh, the visual gimmickery had become more important than the album itself. But now, the story-line is coming back. The character of our music is more cinema-based, unlike the West. The popularity of albums like Rajshri Music's Chui Mui Si Tum Lagti Ho and Gabbar Mix, to an extent, are pointers toward the trend," he feels. Lending their creative skills to these videos are Bollywood dream merchants like Mahesh Bhatt, who directed Smriti Mishra for Alka Yagnik's Tum Yaad Aye and Ketan Mehta, who has expressed his willingness to do a music video in the near future.

So, are music videos going to be the new address for more Mumbai directors? "It is a passing fad. Many of these directors are getting carried away by the ease with which a video reaches millions of drawing rooms. Some are even trying the impossible -- something whichthe masala-mix of Bollywood potboilers does not permit. Mukul Anand and Vidhu Vinod Chopra have tried their hand at ad films in the past and the long leash which they enjoy in this medium comes as a catharsis for them," feels Malhotra.

But too much of song and dance may have its flip-side -- over exposure could lead to the entire promotion boomeranging on the producers -- that's what happened to the Big B in Mrityudaata, where the umpteenth screening of Daler Mehndi's Na Na Na Re on televisions had the audiences uttering in chorus, when the film was released. But when you look at its immense reach, and the galaxy of stars on its horizon, the zenith of music videos in the country is yet to come.