Cashing in on their popularity, B-Town's under-30 brigade is raking in the moolah with loads of endorsements. From condoms to cars, the stars are lending their faces to up their brand value
Bollywood's young brigade has become valuable as brand ambassadors for products that are in demand by their fan group. So, while the stars that cater to the 30-plus group are getting their hands sticky with cooking oil and health supplements, the younger lot are lending their names to beauty products and cell phones.

Presently, Alia Bhatt leads the female pack as the most wanted in brand endorsements while among the male contingent, Ranveer Singh's condom campaign has attracted attention. Ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakar says, "Storytelling is the future of advertisements." While ad and theatre personality Rahul daCunha feels, "There cannot be a commercial with both a star and a story." Hitlist takes a look at stars and their brand appeal.

Deepika Padukone

Endorsements: Grooming, electronic, beverage, stationery, banking and financial brands
Endorsement fee: Rs 6 crore (approx)
In short: Deepika acted in three films this year - Kochadaiiyaan, Finding Fanny and Happy New Year. The secret behind her large reservoir of energy may be due to endless cups of hot coffee, at least, that is what her choice of beverage endorsements highlight. There is no stopping her with the successful outcomes at the box-office and her choice to serve variety with quality that rubs off on the advertisement front, too.

Alia Bhatt

Endorsements: Clothing and grooming brands
Endorsement fee: Rs 1 crore (approx)
In short: According to ad films executive Aditya Akolkar, "Alia Bhatt is a brand in itself. She thought that Prithviraj Chavan was the President of India. Therefore, when Anushka Sharma embarrassed herself in Karan Johar's rapid-fire round, he termed her gaffe as an 'Alia Bhatt moment'. Akolkar feels that in the industry, any publicity is good publicity. "She still gets viral traction for her flawed general knowledge; thus every celebrity has their own unique selling point."

Parineeti Chopra

Endorsements: Clothing, grooming, food and electronics brand
Endorsement fee: Rs 1.5-2 crore (approx)
In short: This year has not been as successful as the last for Parineeti, but haven't the city's potholed roads taught us that life has its ups and downs? She still manages to bag endorsements that keep her in the public eye. The ad marketing guys still have utmost faith in her after her exceptional work in Ishaqzaade (2012), even though her colleagues are giving her a run for her money when it comes to the box office.

Anushka Sharma

Endorsements: Grooming, two-wheeler, beverage, telecommunication and electronics brands
Endorsement fee: Rs 3-4 crore (approx)
In short: Anushka has been in the news for her relationship with cricketer Virat Kohli and now for her upcoming film, PK. Her last B-Town outing was Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola in January 2013. So the actress must be commended for her appearances even when not on the silver screen. Thanks to the several advertisements that she gets offered, it is almost as if she's waiting for you to switch on the TV and once you do she drives by on a scooty, offers a cold drink and reminds you to apply face wash before you get to watch your favourite programme. On hindsight, she defines that thin line between being irritating and trying to be convincing.

Sonam Kapoor

Endorsements: Grooming, electronics, home decor and luxury brand
Endorsement fee: Rs 3.5-4 crore (approx)
In short: She is known for stepping out in designer wear more than her films. But DaCunha alleges, "You'll see that the stars that do advertisements are really the ones who are not doing well." In turn, to bag a good endorsement deal she will need to bag above average films.

Pulkit Samrat

Endorsements: Beverage, telecommunication and e-commerce brands
Endorsement fee: Rs 55-60 lakh (approx)
In short: DaCunha says, "Pulkit Samrat may not be able to get a following through his films, but to keep his Opportunity To See (OTS) - a measure of impact in advertising - going, he is doing more advertisements." This endorses his opinion that stars who are doing commercials are the one's who aren't doing well.

Yami Gautam

Endorsements: Food, beverage, automobile and clothing brand
Endorsement fees: Rs 1 crore (approx)
In short: It is debatable whether the best of us would settle for an ice-cream on a date, but seeing Yami Gautam in a music video with Sidharth Malhotra, for an ice-cream commercial, is good progress after spending a lot of screen space on fairness cream advertisements; besides, the traction on the Internet is alarming. The Vicky Donor actress is in a happy space with a bevy of brands in her kitty.

Arjun Kapoor

Endorsements: Electronics brands
Endorsement fee: Rs 80 lakh-1 crore (approx)
In short: On joining hands with a popular audio equipment brand, Arjun Kapoor said, "I have been using this brand's products in my home and on the go, so this was really a marriage of convenience for me." What sort of marriage it was can be left to speculation, but as the head of distributions for this brand believes, "Arjun Kapoor represents the youth of today who are independent, expressive and confident."

Ranveer Singh

Endorsements: Clothing, condom and automobile brand
Endorsement fees: Rs 3.5-4 crore (approx)
In short: While no celebrity has mustered courage to do an ad on condoms, Ranveer, unlike his colleagues, chose to endorse it to create awareness about sexual well-being and promote safe sex. He also replaced Hrithik Roshan who was the face of an Indian clothing brand. Karan Bakaimpadi, who worked with Ranveer for an upcoming show in continuation to the condom campaign, says: "Ranveer is open to experimentation and improvises his way into any character, which makes him an icon to the free-spirited youth of today."

Varun Dhawan

Endorsements: Grooming and electronics brand
Endorsement fees: Rs 1 crore (approx)
In short: To see an actor moulding himself into a new character for commercials gives them an opportunity to fulfill their silver screen duties on other screens too. In the commercial for a smartphone brand, Varun Dhawan makes an attempt at rapping. We leave its value upon your assessment, as to whether this one raises a toast to Pitbull!