Brain behind the brand: Confessions of a Bollywood star publicist

Last week it was reported that actress Shilpa Shettys publicist who owned up to finding Animal Farm when searching the net for a book that lsquoteaches you how to care for animalsrsquo has been fired Even as ShilpaShettyReviews continued to trend on Twitter Shetty took to the social media site to say that she had never read the George Orwell book So recommending them to kids is out of the question Obviously some misunderstandingI had been interested in celebrities ever since I did a media course in college After graduating I joined a firm which manages celebrities and also works on promotional projects for films That was eight years agoIts been quite a ride and I had a bumpy start I still recall with great clarity the first time I went on field mdash on field in our industry means being around a celebrity during an event It could be a party a television appearance or as was in this case an interview for promoting a new release And the actor I was in charge of was someone known to be controversial There was hardly an interview of hers that didnt make the news for all the wrong reasonsAs Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone took their success war to Hollywood their publicists took to the press with articles on who took home a fatter payThat day we were at a hotel and the actress was promoting a twoheroine movie she was a part of The journalist who was from a top TV channel asked her about her equation with another actress there has been rumours about the two not getting along and my client blew her lidShe attacked the channel called their line of questioning tacky and stormed off the sets It was ironic because she had been asked if she handled catfights maturely What did the firm that represented her and I worked for do NothingSome sections of the media hinted that the spat between Hrithik Roshan and Kangna Ranaut was orchestrated by publicistsThats what this actress was famous for mdash throwing tantrums We realised she was doing this for her own publicity and that it didnt make sense to go into damage control The channel in turn got back with a story on the tacky films the actress had doneI had been attracted to the profession by the idea of moving around the famous It never occurred to me how busy my life was going to become But I soon realised that a celebrity publicist needs to keep their phone handy all the timeRanbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma got into a sticky situation with the entertainment website Pinkvilla in October this year Kapoor got upset at being asked to verify his cousin Kareena Kapoors statement that he read Pinkvilla five times a day and resorted to saying that he only read it as it published s He then challenged the website to carry that video Pinkvilla not just published the video but carried a rejoinder which talked of how celebrsquos publicists beg for positive stories Around the release of a movie we accompany the star everywhere mdash events interviews and even to the airport We handle their communication too even sending emails and messages for them Most of the bigger stars in the industry need someone to whet the interviews for them We do that job I handle a few superstars and ahead of every release of the requests they receive they accept only three Its we who help them decide which threeLife is a bit more relaxed when a film release is not around the corner but that means little because we still have to be available 247 A star may want you any time I have found actresses to be more needy than actors as they require constant validation of how they look mdash if their dress is fine if their hair is right They also like being seen with an entourageSo if they have to go for an event and dont have a friend to go with they will take the publicist along Its embarrassing to make it alone Its no wonder that you develop a bond with the star It becomes second nature for us to always think about them even putting them before us our own personal life For example if a movie releases during a festival which they often do we are off promoting the movie instead of being at home with our familiesThe bigger stars dont need as much attention as they get press no matter what Its the newer stars that are tougher to handle You have to make sure you get them to various events where they can be seen and photographed You have to get them into magazines and newspapers even if it means halfinventing stories they can be part of You develop a business acumen doing this job What that means is you become an ace at barter For example I may tell a journalist that I will make sure a certain celebrity is on the cover of their magazine if they do me a favour and carry an interview with a new actor It doesnt sound right but thats how it goesIts the relationship with the journalist mdash and that can be a precarious one mdash that we tend to a lot Here are the things we do which perhaps we shouldnt be doing Sometimes a publicist may give a journalist a story about their client without the celebritys knowledge just so the journalist owes them a favour later Often whosdatingwhom stories are leaked by the actors themselves and later they could feign ignorance This is done in compliance with the newspaperchannelmagazine For example an actor couple may leak pictures of themselves on vacation and in another interview speak of the media not giving them their spaceActors think we control this stuff when thats not true at all They ask us to dictate headlines and determine which photographs will be published We are pulled up when the truth appears in the press and are asked why we didnt stop it Many a publicist has lost the account because the celeb got bad press Actors also think they can control movie reviews But readers are way too smart The stars do it anyway and the publicist becomes the gobetween in this doctored publicityThat is still part of the job Often we end up handling work that is not even remotely related to our job We end up negotiating financials for a star when on a shoot mdash how much will the driver or the makeup experts be paid This is also because the star is embarrassed to do it personally So we sit down with the magazine staff and sort out everyones payments ndash right down to what lunch will be ordered We also sometimes have to plant stories about the clients rivals mdash things we have heard on the job that are usually true I have even heard though not encountered of stars getting the publicist to manage the lover reaching out fixing a date You cant say noHave I ever wanted to quit Of course several times The job is stressful and gets repetitive Its also tiring to think up story pitches Hence most end up as silly ideas For example you may tell a journalist that an actress has a foreign director pursuing her But the director may never have heard of her Or you may try and sell a story that two actors didnt get along during a shoot when in fact things were fairly polite At the end of it all its your love for movies and glamour and the professional attitude of a handful of stars that keeps you willing to stay in the game