Naynik was treated in a psychiatric hospital, and Brezhneva suffered from breakdowns: the producer told what price the VIA Gra participants paid for popularity.

The path to popularity was not smooth: cheap shoes from the market, outfits made of synthetics and latex, fines for every wrong action. The underside of the most popular female group turned out to be unsightly.

If we talk about the group “VIA Gra”, the members of the female group invariably come to mind. At different times, thanks to the legendary team, Anna Sedokova, Vera Brezhneva, Nadezhda Granovskaya, Albina Dzhanabaeva and many others became stars. This trail continues behind them to this day, although each has long since begun building a solo career.

Many years later, Vera Brezhneva admits that wearing short, revealing dresses is very uncomfortable for her.

“I’m embarrassed to go on stage in a short skirt... When there’s a concert, people are sitting in front of you and you go on stage - that’s one thing. But when you work with a camera, it’s completely different. There’s a different kind of plastic... At 35, I starred on the cover of Maxim magazine... And at 35, I’m the sexiest again... But this is a shoot. I can’t go out like this... I feel uncomfortable,” she admitted a couple of years ago.

Perhaps this is due to age, or perhaps the psychological trauma that all VIA Gra participants invariably have.

Girls remember them extremely rarely, trying to avoid painful moments of the past. But you can’t erase the words from the song. For example, Tatyana Naynik, finding herself outside the team, was treated in a psychiatric hospital for a long time.

“I lost my entire previous life. Modeling contracts, husband, apartment, job. I haven’t even accumulated any wealth. Moreover, as soon as I left VIA Gra, my dad died. I ended up in the hospital, and for two years I was treated with psychotropic drugs. I also went to my grandmothers: they took so much damage from me!” — the artist shared her story.

The ideal image of VIA Gra was Granovskaya. Konstantin Meladze regularly reminded the participants: “Nadia is ‘VIA Gra’.” It corresponded to the producer’s visual ideas of what the members of the group should look like. Everyone was adjusted to this format: breasts were no smaller than size 3.

“This clause is actually written into the contract. And if a girl meets all the standards of the producers, but does not have breasts, plastic surgery to enlarge her bust is a prerequisite,” said the ex-soloist of the sexy trio, Christina Kots-Gottlieb.

The only participant who refused the operation was Olga Romanovskaya. This decision cost her her career. The rest diligently complied with all the terms of the agreement. Although there was no legal agreement with the producer as such, there were only “rules of conduct”, which detailed what the participants were allowed to do and what was strictly prohibited.

“You cannot smoke, drink, go out without permission, meet men, communicate with colleagues and friends, generally allow strangers into your room, give interviews and comments without the consent of the producers. Giving birth is generally a terrible sin. For every offense there are fines,” Tatyana Naynik once admitted.

The performers knew not only the rules, but also the table of fines, which was also impressive. Each cigarette costs $100. As a result, Alena Vinnitskaya even had to be coded from smoking while she was in the group. Even for smoking outside the venue, if the girls were caught by the producer or security, they were deprived of their fees.

No less severe punishments were imposed for excess weight: if the participants had to be “squeezed” in the photo, they faced at least a difficult conversation with the producer, and sometimes total control. Administrators monitored the weight of the wards - what they eat and what dishes they order.

“After the concert, we were locked in the hotel, and even relatives and friends could not get to us. In my native St. Petersburg, on tour, I was not allowed to talk to my mother! They didn’t let me into the room,” recalls Tatyana Naynik.

At first, while the group was winning its place in the sun, there was not only total control, but also the same savings.

“The director bought the cheapest fabrics at wholesale markets, and the clothes were cut by some migrant workers for pennies, not by famous designers. The outfits, of course, were very revealing. In some it was impossible to perform. In latex we sweated like men in the gym, and in underwear made of synthetics and ruffles we could freeze from the cold,” recalled Alena Vinnitskaya.

But even cheap synthetics could not compare with outfits painted with toxic car paint. The participants shone in these in 2000, performing the hit “Attempt No. 5.”

To ensure that the fabric was “golden,” the dresses were dyed every two takes. The stench from toxic car paint was so bad it took your breath away, but that didn’t stop anyone.

“A can of toxic automotive paint for iron products was purchased. And this dress was filled with this paint. Imagine the discomfort I felt wearing it during filming. Firstly, it smelled very strongly and became uncomfortable and hard,” Vinnitskaya shared.

Vera Brezhneva paid for her popularity with her health in the literal sense of the word. To film a video for the song “Flower and Knife,” the artist was doused with cold water on the street for 14 hours. The air temperature was only +10. By the end of filming, the singer was hysterical.

Most of all, Konstantin Meladze was afraid that rumors would appear about the availability of vocalists. But he couldn’t refuse sexual images either - that was the team’s specialty. But it was not always possible to observe that very fine line. Customers often perceived VIA Gro in accordance with the medical drug of the same name.

In December 2001, Vinnitskaya and Granovskaya fled from a corporate party in the Carpathians. The girls worked through the program, and then, at the request of the guests, went into the hall. One of the men began to pester Granovskaya, but was rebuffed. Then the artists were locked in the room, and they had to get out through the window, tying the sheets to the radiator. Naturally, the girls did not receive any fee.

“In the 2000s, the group was at the peak of its popularity, and times were such that money could buy everything. Therefore, Meladze quite logically feared that his charges would get a bad reputation. But rumors still circulated. They said that the “golden squad” agreed to dinners with millionaires and organized VIP trips. Of course, these were special clients, and such events cost millions of rubles. How was the money divided? This is already an internal kitchen. But usually the lion's share goes to the producer and 20–30% to the artists. The girls played according to Meladze's rules, dressed and undressed. They were all simple girls from poor families,” says Olga Loeva, concert organizer, to ProPedia.

One could forgive a lot if such popularity brought good money, but alas. The artists were not paid that much, but there was more than enough work.

“They were very popular. There were a lot of performances, mostly corporate events. I have organized such events more than once at the request of customers. The group's total fee was 20 thousand dollars, it could have been more, but these are separate stories. But the internal kitchen was no longer bearable. But they definitely received a little, I don’t know exactly how much, it seemed that I heard that it was a hundred dollars, maybe a little more, depending on the performer. This is mainly the producer's earnings. But such prices were somewhere at the beginning of the group’s existence, then they grew,” promoter Sergei Lavrov told ProPedia.

But there was no time to spend even these modest earnings. The producers gave literally 15 minutes to buy cosmetics in stores. The cheapest shoes were bought at markets, and many of the items for filming were from personal wardrobes. At the initial stage, the producers were not particularly keen to invest in the group, receiving good dividends from what nature generously endowed the participants with.

Photo: Evgeny Nikolaev, Andrey Kalmykov/ProPedia, Legion-Media, Persona Stars