DU fest season climax: Bet you didn't know what Papon, Neeti Mohan, Seedhe Maut and others charge! Here's full budget

Hindustan Times

05-05-2025

Papon, Neeti Mohan, Seedhe Maut, Sunanda Sharma, Javed Ali, Mohit Chauhan, Amit Mishra, Salim-Sulaiman – you name it and there must have been some college where one or the other leading singer would have performed on campus this year! Such lit was the stage scene at Delhi University's college fests in the season that recently came to a close. But behind all the glitz, glam and clamour was months of planning, fundraising, and plenty of hustle that the students underwent. As a vibrant 2025 fest season wraps up, here's bringing you the BTS — financially and elsewise — that went behind pulling off some massive star-studded nights. Read to get a lowdown on the artiste fee, overall budget, sponsorship struggles, and more:
Seedhe Maut drops the mic @ SRCC for ₹60lakh fest
After a low-key edition last year, Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) bounced back with a bang at Crossroads 2025 that saw nearly 40,000 students turn up! Popular hip-hop duo Seedhe Maut headlined Day 2 with DJ Ecstasy, while Rauhan Malik closing out the fest on the final day. 'We have healthy rivalries in DU as to which college will conduct the grandest fest. Crossroads has always been among the best. Last year we were a little underwhelming but this year we wanted to revive the legacy,' shares Amrit Koul, a final-year student of BCom (Hons) and Student's Union vice president. He adds: 'We wanted to host Seedhe Maut because they are an absolute rage among students and no one expected that they would get to attend their performance live in their own university. From February till the very first day of the fest, a 50-member team raised ₹60 lakhs in funds and sponsorships; ₹28 lakhs of which went into artiste fee. In fact, we got our title sponsor on board just a day before the fest began!'
Sunanda Sharma rocks GGSIPU fest budgeted at ₹1.2cr
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU)'s Anugoonj saw a packed crowd of close to one lakh students this year with Sunanda Sharma as the headliner. 'Counting down the tenders, the celebrity booking, the logistics, stage set ups, it cumulatively rounded off to a budget of 1.2 crore of which 11-12 lakhs went to the artist (Sunanda Sharma). It was a masterclass in teamwork, negotiation, and pure persistence. Despite early sponsor rejections, we hustled hard, landing deals through alumni, faculty, and even had to go through our own family networks,' informs Akriti Singh, a fourth-year student of BBA LLB at University School of Law & Legal Studies (USLLS).
Neeti Mohan relived DU days @ DDU fest costing ₹51 lakh
Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) College brought in Neeti Mohan as their star performer, backed by smart groundwork and research. 'The college provided us a budget of 26 lakhs and then we raised another 25 lakhs through sponsorships bringing our budget to around 51 lakhs. We made a concious effort to learn and gain deep knowledge of how big events can be succesfully curated. Thus, months before the fest season, a team of students went to all the popular music and food events happening across Delhi. It is there that we networked extensively and made contacts with artist managers, sponsors, brands as well as logistic suppliers,' shares Bharat Kaushik, a recent graduate and the alumnus mentor of the 2025 cultural council, adding, ' ₹16.5 lakh of the budget went towards Neeti's fee, with another ₹10–12 lakhs covering her travel and accommodation.'
Papon transfixes Shaheed Sukhdev students at fest costing ₹ 35 lakh
Singer Papon's set at Crescendo – the annual fest of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies – was straight-up unforgettable! But pulling it off was no easy feat for the students. 'The college gave us ₹10 lakhs, and we went out and raised another ₹25 lakhs ourselves. Out of the ₹35 lakh total budget, ₹18-20 lakhs went into bringing Papon on board. We wanted this to be the biggest Crescendo yet,' informs Anshaj Madaan, a final-year BCom (Hons) student.
So how did they execute it all? 'Cold calling was our game plan but we wanted it to do it right. We split our 65-member team into industry-specific squads, ran cold calling workshops, and then started reaching out to brands. That structure really helped us seal the deals,' Madaan adds.
Nikhita Gandhi dazzles Shivaji at fest costing ₹25 lakh
Shivaji College's Anchorage saw performances by singers Nikhita Gandhi and Amit Mishra, on seperate days. However, to make that happen, the students had to utilise their budget of ₹25 lakhs effectively, 'We wanted to utilise our budget effectively and put it to the best use. Last year we realised that the expense on medical emergency supplies such as first-aid kids added up to quite a lot given we had to load up on them with such huge crowds turning up. However, this year us students went to a hospital and after proposing our plan we were able to acquire their services without having to shell out on our budget.' Despite our repeated attempts, the college students didn't disclose the artistes' fee.
Deep Money digs in KMC fest that cost ₹15 lakhs
Singer Deep Money performed at Renaissance'25, the annual fest of Kirori Mal College (KMC), where close to 12,000 students turned up for the performance. 'A team of around 35 students worked tirelessly to raise sponsorships for the fest. From cold-calling brands to personally meeting them, our team handled it all. Given the financial year-end, we decided to postpone the fest by a month, which ultimately gave us more time to raise our budget,' shares Kushagra Sharma, a final-year student of BA(Hons) Political Science, adding, 'In total, we worked with a budget of approximately ₹15 lakh — half of which was raised by the students and the rest was contributed by the college. Around ₹10 lakh went into production and ₹4 lakh was spent on the artiste. The remaining amount covered miscellaneous expenses.'
Marvellous Aastha Gill's Maitreyi gig was part of ₹30 lakh fest
Maitryi college' Rhapsody kicked off with an electrifying performance by singer Aastha Gill, drawing an energetic crowd of around 15,000. 'This year, we aimed higher with our artist lineup and event execution,' says Harpriya Sindhwani, president of the students' union and a final-year student, adding, 'Over 150 student volunteers worked tirelessly to make this annual event a success.' Day 1 saw a lively DJ and artist night featuring Akash Ahuja, setting the stage for Aastha Gill's power-packed performance on day two. The total expenditure for the two-day extravaganza touched nearly ₹30 lakh.