Do stars need to pretend?
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A huge star from our industry today was doing a film with me and we were shooting in a foreign land, much to the delight of the Indians abroad who gathered around to watch the shoot. They were delighted with the star’s presence. Now the star wanted to smoke and so he decided to get his attendant to hide him with an umbrella and smoke undercover. Why was he bothering to hide and smoke I inquired and he said that there were a lot of young fans and he did not want to set a bad example. Quite impressed was I. Very thoughtful indeed.
Later, on my way to the hotel I wondered if he did not want to set a bad example or did he not want to tarnish his image? Same thing? Surely not, but then I did not have any reason to doubt him but surely made me think.
Can you be a big star and live your life with your vices and wear your heart on your sleeve? Is it necessary to have an image that is not anywhere close to what you really are to be a star?
I believe that every one of us is two people. We all have a social side to us and a side that we don’t let anyone come remotely close to, and stars being human obviously have both those sides as well, but do they need to protect that darker side to be stars?
Salman Khan is perhaps an example of a star that has taken all the bad publicity in his stride and emerged a bigger star. He has killed both a black buck and people sleeping outside a bakery. He has gotten drunk and created a scene. Yet, he had a charity organisation like no other star. Yet, he is more human than any other star. He feels and he does as he feels. He has Wanted and Dabangg.
On the other side of the coin, is Viveik Oberoi. I believe that his media perception has made him suffer more than anything else. He is not the only bad boy and yet people find it hard to forgive him. What makes it right for Salman and not for Viveik? Would it help Viveik to be closeted about what he feels and pretend to be someone who he is not? Would that help?
There are stars I know, married ones who have the perception of being monogamous and would yet go for everything that moves from behind the secret screen and then there are actors who are known for their serial relationships and yet can’t stop being popular.
So what is good for the star? To hide who he is or to be who he is? In my opinion you are what you are and you cannot change that and when you try to be something that you are not, you are like a coiled spring under pressure that would one day recoil with such ferocity that you will be known for what you are.
My encounters with Shiney Ahuja have not been pleasant and I never had any respect for him, yet his perception was different till the case with his help blew out of proportion. Yet there is a Sanjay Dutt who his fans know is a Munnabhai at heart. All the legal tangles that he has been through have never taken his stardom away.
To my mind, it is all about honesty. The fan and the audience have the ability to see past all the veils of secrecy. You can fool some people all the time and all the people some time but you can never fool the audience. Not now. Not anytime.
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