Outside, Mumbai is queuing up for a whiff of salt-soaked air. Inside the high walls of his Art Deco house, as Shah Rukh Khan's silver BMW slows to a halt, his five-year-old son Aryan is playing with his dog Hulk. Gauri, his wife, walks down a dramatically winding outdoor staircase, carrying their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Suhana on her hip. Two "strict-type" nannies (as Shah Rukh calls them) are lurking in the manicured garden. All of them are clamouring for his attention, including the dog who wants to get him into trouble by putting his paws all over his wife's new, pristine white sofa.

Shah Rukh, having just finished a long day's work on his first film in a year, Chalte Chalte, his company Dreamz Unlimited's own Rs 5 crore production, is on his communicator, trying to organise the arrival of friend Juhi Chawla's daughter Jahnavi. As a picture of cosy domesticity, even Yash Chopra would not be able to improve it (Gauri, of course, would be wearing a diaphanous chiffon sari).

"I want to be with my children now, not five years down the line when my films are not doing well. I'll know I did it when it mattered," says Shah Rukh, as he sips a vicious-looking drink (it's a protein supplement called Isopar). Subhash Ghai and Ramesh Sippy are waiting to snap him up, but the actor, after averaging "3.5 films a year in 11 years in the industry", has decided to do what he wants. That is one film at a time: "Aamir (Khan) and I have always discussed the virtues of doing one good film a year."

The Rock SHAH RUKH KHAN ONE FILM AT A TIME: As he focuses on two home productions, the actor makes over Rs 2.5 crore every year from each brand he endorses. If his company makes the ad film, he charges another Rs 1 crore. "I can always dance at weddings and make money.''	Missing Miss AISHWARYA RAI ART FILMS AHOY: Charges Rs 2.5 crore per film but with mainstream offers drying up, she's set her sights on Gurinder Chadha and Rituparno Ghosh. Ads, for which she gets over Rs 1 crore, are her staple.	New Hope VIVEK OBEROI CASHING IN: Has been shooting back-to-back for three releases this year. He's talking to big banners, but they're waiting for the results of Saathiya and Dum before they give him his asking price: Rs 1 crore.

Across the city at the Taj Ballroom, Aamir is making a quiet entry into the fashion event of the season, a Shahab Durazi show-at least it begins that way until a feeding frenzy begins among the photographers. It is the same when he goes to a local theatre where Hungarian maestro Istvan Szabo is inaugurating the Mumbai Film Festival. Aamir, who has been battling rumours about his personal life, will shoot for Ketan Mehta's film on the First War of Independence (tentatively called The Rising, it is scripted by Mehta and Farrukh Dhondy and is produced by Bobby Bedi) only in March, which will be two years since he completed Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai.

Lone Warrior AAMIR KHAN RATION YOURSELF: Was the first to discover the virtues of doing one film a year. Has a long-term contract with Coca-Cola, for whom he also produces ads, at an extra cost.

Two stars who can charge the price they want-reportedly over Rs 5 crore-but are choosing to be frugal. After Chalte Chalte, where he plays a trucker-cum-transporter, Shah Rukh will do a quick schedule of another home production, Main Hoon Na, directed by friend and choreographer Farah Khan. And then in January, he begins Nikhil Advani's Kal Ho Na Ho, produced by Karan Johar, ending it with a big outdoor schedule in New York. The only film appearance we'll see him in till next summer will be a cameo in Shaad Ali's Saathiya. It doesn't matter, he says. "I can always earn enough by acting in ads or dancing at a wedding.''

Indeed. He is the face of Airtel, Pepsi, Hyundai and Videocon-from each he earns, according to market reports, upwards of Rs 2.5 crore a year. Sometimes, like for Pepsi, Shah Rukh's company produces the ad at a cost of about Rs 1 crore. Aamir, on the other hand, has an estimated Rs 3 crore contract with Coca-Cola. If his company, Aamir Khan Productions, produces the ads (as in the Aamir in Hyderabad and Aamir in Punjab ads), he gets paid an additional amount. Both the actors charge upwards of Rs 1 crore for stage shows.

Changing Course KARISMA SWITCH TRACKS: Is not signing new films after her engagement, passes them on to her sister Kareena. Has moved to TV with a daily soap on Sahara called Karisma: The Miracle of Destiny.

Midlife Crisis ANIL KAPOOR WAIT AND WATCH: Had a bad year with the failure of his own production Badhai Ho Badhai and Vashu Bhagnani's Om Jai Jagdish. A lot depends on his next release, Rishtey.

Increasingly, as dyed-in-the-wool Mumbai producers stop-start-stop their productions, waiting for distributors to finance their next cycle of shooting, stars with brand equity are looking for alternative streams of revenue that often finance their home productions. As for the rest, as Johar puts it, "Overpriced stars are highly unjustifed. Where is the box office recovery?" Which is why he fired Kareena Kapoor, who is said to charge Rs 1.5 crore for every film, from the cast of Kal Ho Na Ho.

A high price may be one of the reasons Aishwarya Rai-who reportedly charged as much as Rs 35 lakh for a single song in 23rd March, 1931: Shaheed-has only Dil Ka Rishta, her own production (where art imitates life and the hero, Arjun Rampal, recklessly crashes his car), Samir Karnik's Kyon Ho Gaya Na and Rituparno Ghosh's next film. She has also "expressed a strong interest", says Gurinder Chadha, in the Bend It Like Beckham director's musical version of Pride and Prejudice. So if Aishwarya is seen walking the ramp for Durazi or endorsing a range of products-Nakshatra diamonds, Fuji, Lux and Coca-Cola-you know why. That's her bread and butter.

Lesser priced actors like Raveena Tandon are in demand: she has a slew of releases waiting, from Ek Se Badhkar Ek to Satta to J.P. Dutta's LoC. She's also started a production house that is making five movies for Sahara TV. Karisma Kapoor, with only Rishtey to look forward to, has switched to tv while sister Kareena will have to cross her fingers for Khushi (she's publicly said she'll be shattered if it fails) and the Sooraj Barjatya film, Main Hoon Prem Ki Diwani. That two-years-in-the-making film will also be one of a paltry three that may well decide Hrithik Roshan's future.

After Roshan delivered six turkeys in the 16 months following the wildly popular Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai in January 2001, the industry was only too willing to anoint his successor. It came in the form of Vivek Oberoi, who promptly tried to cash in, shooting back-to-back for Company, Road and Saathiya. Dum, his fourth release, comes early next year.

Now Oberoi's handlers sound cautious. As the sun sets on Madh Island off the Mumbai coast, where he's shooting for childhood buddy Karnik's Kyon Ho Gaya Na, his brother/manager Anand sounds the new mantra: "All the big banners are talking to him. But he's being very choosy.'' Shades of Hrithik Part II? We'll know soon.