Imagine this scenario: actor Anupam Kher is lying wounded on a stretcher at a hospital, awaiting medical help after an action sequence featuring a gun-shot scene for a film went awry. He’s in pain and all he can think of is some medication to ease the pain when an ardent fan spots him and lies down on the stretcher to take a picture with his idol. This episode would have put off most stars, but not Kher.
“I love being a celebrity… it’s a great feeling to be recognised... Plus, if you are a star you are frisked less closely by the security guards at the airport,” said Kher, who has acted in more than 450 Bollywood films.
His candid admission about stars and the intense scrutiny they are subjected to set off a thundering applause at a panel discussion entitled “Celebrity And Success” at the Emirates Airline Literature Festival which concluded in Dubai on Saturday. Joining him on stage was celebrated Indian author and columnist Shobhaa De, who said that she would find such an intrusion inappropriate, but agreed that celebrities have a sweet deal.
“The upside outweighs the downside,” said De, who never shies away from being critical about Bollywood stars in her columns.
“I am not a star and I don’t taste the kind of popularity that stars deal with… but as a good trained actor you never turn down a fan. You have to sign that autograph, that’s a downside. But the upside is that when a fan unexpectedly gives you a hug in a strange city or tells you that you have touched or transformed them in some way. That’s rewarding,” said De.
Both agreed that media scrutiny — which can border on voyeurism — is here to stay.
“Let’s face it. Media is a hungry beast. At the end of the day we are doing our job. If you are in the public domain, then you are accountable to the public. It’s as simple as that. In India we are kinder towards politicians and public figures. In the UK or the US, there’s no question of getting away with anything. We have people with criminal records, tax evaders and even rapists in parliament… what scrutiny are we talking about? We need to do much more,” said De, who has edited celebrity magazines such as Star Dust and Celebrity.
The free-wheeling chat also veered towards Bollywood stars, their intolerance to negative remarks, twitter serving as a good reality check and lack of role models in India.
“I am an eternal optimist and I don’t take fame or stardom too seriously. So that helps when people call you a bald attention seeker,” said Kher.
De urged Bollywood stars to take themselves less seriously.
“My advice: if you want to be a celebrity, you need to be a rhinoceros. You need to develop a thick hide. You need to learn how to take the abuse… if you take yourself too seriously, you will never be able to handle the hate. The problem with Bollywood stars is that they are used to being put on a pedestal and having sycophants around them,” said De.
tabloid! caught up with them after the panel discussion on…
Today’s celebrity-driven entertainment reportage and whether lines need to be drawn:
Shobhaa De: “It sounds dreadful but most of celebrity writing today is sub-standard and tacky. The biggest source for journalists is Wikipedia and any garbage you find on the net is paraded as an interview or as facts. There is very little homework. The journalists and the readers need a quickie, which is fine. But the writing has deteriorated, there is less individuality... There’s general dumbing down of reportage”
Anupam Kher: “In today’s time you can’t draw lines. It is a cut-throat situation. I have some friends in the media whom I have immense respect for but today there’s no end to sensationalism. There are lots of people who have just passed out of college and have no clue what they are talking about it. Among celebrities, there are many stars who have done nothing but are written about endlessly.”
Coverage of celebrity baby Aaradhya Bachchan:
Shobhaa De: “I am not surprised at all, There’s little logic to it but it speaks volumes about the celebrity culture that we have spawned. You can’t explain it in rational terms. Look at Suri [Cruise] or Victoria Beckham’s children, each time they step out in public it creates a stir. Posh is even creating a fashion label out of that obsessive interest. Today everything is up for leveraging. Posh Spice has proved to be a smart girl. She has learnt to use that scrutiny to her advantage. Look at Kim Kardashian. She has created a business empire by just turning up at parties. That’s the world we live in.”
Anupam Kher: “It doesn’t bother me. She deserves to be there. Also, I suspect it’s more of a media’s obsession than a people’s obsession. Such stories distract you from war and attacks happening around the world. It’s an escape and a good diversion. In today’s times, news is often depressing. A human interest story such as Aaradhya Bachchan appeases the voyeur in us.”
Fall-outs with media:
Anupam Kher: “The media has been kind to me. I am a straight kind of guy. I deal with people in a straight-forward manner. Barring that one time where I was banned by the media for reacting to a ridiculous news item, the going has been good. The fall-out was huge. They created a story that was completely false. I was banned for five years. But time heals and sets things right. After some time, the anger dissolved and you begin to feel as if the journalist was just doing their job.”
[In the early 1990s, Kher slapped a journalist, Troy Robeiro, after he wrote a story about a link-up with Mamta Kulkarni’s sister, Mithila.]
Criticising sensitive stars:
Shobhaa De: “All I have to say to the stars is that you need to learn to handle criticism with dignity, grace and maturity. You can’t always expect journalists to be gushing.”
The most over-rated celebrity news that has captured the world’s imagination:
Anupam Kher: “Plenty, don’t we read something or the other every day?”
Shobhaa De: “Pippa Middleton’s derriere. Even today we are discussing it. Imagine an entire royal wedding was hijacked by the sister-in-law’s behind. That I did not expect.”
Stars that deal with criticism well:
Shobhaa De: “Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra. The rest of the Bollywood brood are not too good at it and are delusional about their own fame, greatness and image. For all his notoriety, Khan has done well for himself. The way he deals with the media is disarming. He’s like a child and on his own trip... When he went through the bad boy phase he rode that well. He didn’t go all petulant, get sulky or go hyper-touchy about any adverse comments that came his way. Now, he can’t do any wrong. Despite Padukone’s link-ups, she has handled herself with such grace and never blamed the press for writing about it.”
QUOTE UNQUOTE:
Need proof that Kher doesn’t take himself too seriously?
“I have not seen all of my 450 films. There is a film called Nigahen — it was a sequel to Naagin with Amrish Puri as villain. I thought I had killed everybody with my performance in the sequel. I invited Yash Chopra, Pam Chopra and all to see it. But after the third reel, I prayed that the theatre would burn down.”
Need proof that De isn’t worried about rubbing stars the wrong way?
“Shah Rukh will want to write his own [autobiography] and he’s writing his own. He’s a bit of a control freak. Actor Dilip Kumar has led a remarkable life. What a life,” De on her choice of her subject if she were to write a star’s biography.
