Filmy Rishtey –bonding between stars, co-stars and fans

Filmy Rishtey –bonding between stars, co-stars and fans

BureauUpdated: Thursday, May 30, 2019, 02:38 PM IST
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Pramita Bose takes a look at the changing relationship between stars and their fans, and the equations between co-stars.

In the age of social media and mobile technology, privacy gets the first axe and confidentiality goes for a toss. Online leak is the new hero ala Udta Punjab, the latest victim. So it is then valid enough to pop the question whether celebrities have blurred the borders between their personal space and public

life. Well at this juncture, that’s what most avid trend-watchers would be hell-bent in pointing out. For it is a noticeable change they detect in the current millennium. Gaps are bridged and all demarcated lines are erased to get up, close and too intimate for comfort.

Remember those heaps of fan-mails and parcelled gifts that private secretaries and assistants of superstars would surf through to send back their responses? Some heart-touching letters were even scribbled in dripping blood instead of pen-ink. Even making long distance telephone calls appeared far-fetched in those days. Cut to present times and check out the reality-bites!

Scores of crazy admirers now snap selfies to share frames with their dream-stars. They no longer need to request for handwritten autographs from them. A peck on the cheek or a tight hug is still there but what was violating and intrusive earlier on, today’s overexposed celebrities are not minding that little bit of touchy-feely affair if controlled within limits. An ad commercial on FMCG product rightly shows actor Siddharth Malhotra echoing this very same emotion.

Now comments-pictures are speedily posted and appreciation gets expressed within 140 characters on Twitter. Plus other popular networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, et al are going overdrive with celeb updates 24X7. Trust the indefatigable Amitabh Bachchan and high energetic Shah Rukh Khan to be unfailingly regular with their presence on the Twitter. They can forego their staple meals and sleep but not their daily cyber-feeds. Being net-savvy is another boon for celebs to stay on the radar and keep tabs of what’s going on. Even trolls and memes about them are not discouraging their participation on the public forum.

Recently actor Abhishek Bachchan reportedly confessed of taking the sarcasm and scathing jabs in his stride with his sporting wit and humour. And celebs like Rishi Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Twinkle Khanna, Vir Das on the contrary never hesitate to call a spade a spade via their funny columns, hilarious tweets and satirical blogs. For example, Kapoor’s unabashed resentment against the nomenclature of major government establishments after the Gandhi family stirred up a hornet’s nest.

His suggestion to rename the same rather rested in favour of our freedom fighters and the socio-cultural achievers at national level. So in spite of mixed reactions and the uproar they invite, nothing can put them at bay from raiding the virtual world and connecting with the netizens. Thus there is no longer a partition wall between icons and their die-hard admirers in the modern-day context.

Initially, television played a huge catalyst in bringing film stars, sport stars, rock stars, musicians, fashion designers, writers, industrialists, and so on closer to the cable viewing homes and made all legendary figures a household face overnight into their living rooms. People would previously pay for watching stars at the theatres by standing in serpentine queues for hours to buy tickets.

But thanks to non-fiction programmes with reality content like game shows, talent hunts, news capsules, comic entertainers, business magazines, etc. that new-age celebs have found an alternative avenue to expand and encash their brand value on air. The audiences can not only call up celeb hosts for a chat over the phone but can also rub shoulders with them on the sets when being qualified as contestants, example: Kaun Banega Crorepati. The miles between the ordinary and the extraordinary are thereby slowly narrowed down to a dot.

It is still a norm for actors, cricketers or musicians to travel extensively and reach out to the masses whose love and adulation have made them what they are. Therefore from stage concerts to night soirees to promotional tours, well-known stars have descended on earth to mingle with the commoners in more ways than one.

From village interiors to army base-camps, urban shopping malls to overseas events, celebs are always on the go. But earlier if there was an enthusing thrill in the thumping hearts of wide-eyed bystanders, today’s gathering seems much more aware and updated with the profile details of its favourite hero-heroines.

“See in today’s tech-driven world, celebs are just a click away from people on the cyberspace, courtesy all socialising sites that keep them glued to message-texts, audio-video posts plus micro-blogging. Also business and professional networking, music, photos, travel and lifestyle sharing and liking are much in vogue among its users. But there is always a flip side to every hyped phenomenon. We can’t argue the fact that technology often exposes its ugly side with hackers and stalkers wreaking havoc on consumers’ lives,” observes a Kolkata-based sociologist. Then where should one draw the line of control to secure one’s privacy and dignity?

“Well, understanding where to edit and conclude is the most significant part of celebrity behaviour,” opines image consultant Prachi Mishra. “One must be prudent enough not to shift the focus from one’s area of work into supplying his/her personal life and relationship nitty-gritties to scoop and rumour-mongers on the prowl. Irony is that gossip mills are anyways rife speculating all behind-the-scene developments. So resorting to a PR advice and expertise on these sticky grounds always helps swim through temporal emergencies,” she further espouses.

From Priyanka Chopra to Hrithik Roshan, Emraan Hashmi to Sonu Nigam and Terence Lewis, all fell prey to unbridled fan-frenzy, mobbing or manhandling on various occasions. The current year’s SRK starrer and box-office blockbuster Fan is a clear proof of this rampant syndrome whether on cricketing fields or in the tinseltown. However, cynics may call these incidents a purposefully planted publicity stunt to remain in news as well as the collective memory.

With the globe getting smaller by the day, the divide between co-stars who are otherwise competitive rivals, is also diminishing fast. Jealousies and insecurities are now being replaced with healthy courtesies, mutual admiration and a frank exchange of well-wishing pleasantries.

Where two leading actresses are usually projected as enemies and meant to avoid seeing each other eye to eye, there an Anushka Sharma and a Deepika Padukone proclaim to be friends on a texting mode. Even the senior Big B sends congratulatory messages to a Kangana Ranaut on her stellar performance or pats a Ranveer Singh for his immense talent or drops in at Shah Rukh Khan’s residence to enquire about his recovery after his shoulder surgery. So bonhomie extends beyond generations. Ask Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh or an SRK and a K-Jo about hobnobbing and bromancing with likeminded pals. Even a ‘bratty’ Salman Khan doles out fitness tips to a Hrithik Roshan or an Arjun Kapoor at the start of their Bollywood careers.

Instances of film fraternity rallying behind actors and technicians for a noble cause or to show them solidarity are nothing new. And of late, the pattern has become more prominent what with the censorship spat between CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) and the makers of Udta Punjab splashing all over. The furore saw a bitter one-to-one battle between the current CBFC head Pahlaj Nihalani and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, whose Phantom Films is one of the key producers of the just released controversial movie.

Names which matter a lot in the industry like Anupam Kher, Karan Johar, Sudhir Mishra, Madhur Bhandarkar, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Chetan Bhagat and even surprisingly reputed social activist-filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, who by default is also a CBFC insider came out in full support of the film and its creative freedom besides others. Even when it unfortunately leaked online prior to its release at the nearest cinemaghar, blatant voices of B-town biggies alongwith members of the Press pleaded with the audiences not to log onto the website and download the film’s illegal copy.

Although stand-up comedian Tanmay Bhat was overtly castigated for distastefully spoofing on cricketing wizard Sachin Tendulkar and the doyen songstress Lata Mangeshkar, Salman Khan’s broiling foot-in-mouth analogy of a ‘raped woman’ drawn in parallel to the gruelling shoots of his upcoming Eid flick Sultan goes largely unnoticed by the showbiz community. In fact, veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai and actor-columnist Pooja Bedi try and trivialise the irresponsible remark by calling it childishly inadvertent, even when the ‘bhai’ of Bollywood gets a summon from Maharashtra Women’s Commission authorities for an apology.

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