PERKS OF STARDOM: Shahrukh Khan

One thing you can be sure about when it comes to a rich, famous and powerful person like Shah Rukh Khan — you just can’t keep him out. In 2012 when his club cricket team Kokata Knight Riders had won a match during the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament in a stadium in Mumbai, Shah Rukh had celebrated by getting his school going daughter and her friends onto the grounds.

A security guard had objected and there had been a nasty verbal exchange with Shah Rukh. Office bearers of the cricket body, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), which owns the stadium, had stepped in on the guard’s side and Shah Rukh was banned from entering the venue. He refused to apologise and from then on didn’t go for any of his team’s matches played there. But now that will change.

In this edition of IPL which is underway, the final was to be played in the MCA ground. But suddenly, the organisers of IPL decided to shift the venue to elsewhere. A frantic MCA then began to negotiate to get the game back to their stadium. They were forced to agree to a 14 point list and point number 9 said that Shah Rukh must be allowed to enter the venue. And they agreed to it. The small perks of superstardom, one would say.

 

Tiger on the move

One young man who is making waves in Bollywood even as his first movie hits the screen this week is Tiger Shroff. He is the son of Jackie Shroff and it is therefore not surprising that his launch should be accompanied by a media splash given the long innings that Jackie has had in the industry. Going by the promos of the movie, Heropanti, it just seems to be a regular masala flick. But what is getting the attention of everyone is the complete package that Tiger represents. He has the looks and seems to very adept at the arsenal commercial heroes must have—dancing, stunts, romancing and so on. There is even a lengthy parkour sequence which is said to be quite a first for Hindi movies.

In interviews Tiger is quite candid about how his father’s status helped him though he says that Jackie stays off his work life.  He also revealed that he was completely inept at studies. In fact, his first love had been dancing and not acting. But given how the two skills are so interwoven in Indian films it must have actually been a good thing for him. Whether Heropanti is going to do well is a question mark. With two debutants in the lead role it needs something extraordinary to become a hit. But, as far as Tiger’s career is concerned, it would get a boost even if he gave a decent performance.

Meanwhile, there was weird publicity stunt in his name. A news report said that he had adopted a tiger. You had to read the fine print to know that it was just one of those adoptions on paper that animal rights NGOs say you can do for a fee. It was not like Tiger was getting the tiger home.

 

Honey on track

In the end of 2012, Honey Singh probably faced the toughest challenge of his life. After a horrible rape and mutilation of a girl on a bus in Delhi, the climate suddenly turned intolerable for any sort of sexism. And it was at that time that people noticed how the lyrics of one of Honey Singh’s songs seemed almost to glorify rape.

Though he denied writing the lyrics, there were protests against him and one of his shows was even cancelled by the hotel where it was going to be held. A police case was also registered against him. He became a hate object. But now two and a half years later fortune seems to have swung the other way. There was his Lungi Dance song from Chennai Express which went on be one of the biggest hit numbers of the year.

And now he has in fact turned actor with a sizeable role in the just released movie The Xpose along with Himesh Reshammiya.  Recently there were also news reports that the number of Facebook likes in his page exceeded even that of established stars. He apparently has 19mn likes as against Deepika Padukone’s 17mn. It doesn’t mean much since these are figures that can be manipulated but that he is enjoying a good spell is undeniable.

 

Celebrity pangs

Preity Zinta’s career as an actress is as good as over. The last movie she acted in was produced by her and it bombed badly. So chances are she would think twice about even casting herself.  And yet, to consider the statements of Preity you would think that she is still a bright star in the firmament.

In a series of tweets recently she spoke about how difficult it was to be a celebrity! It began with her saying humbly how her beginning in movies has nothing to do with becoming a star and it was only about doing a job and becoming ‘financially independent’.

And then when she did become a star, people’s attitudes towards her changed while she tried to be herself. And then she was expected to be perfect. ‘Expectations grow & Im not allowed 2 age, be sad, crib or have a bad day!’ she wrote. And that she couldn’t put on weight or have a pimple and had to live with being an object of voyeurism and adulation.

‘Big crowds make me nervous & men grab me 2touch me yet i cannot react cuz after all they are my fans ! Agreed... But am i not a woman too ?’ she wrote. She also said that the ego of men made them insecure around her and that she was saying all this because many young people wanted stardom and she wanted to make them aware about the other side of it.

It was all a very good rant on celebrity-hood except she is herself not much of a celebrity anymore.

 

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