It was perhaps Aamir Khan, who first decided he wanted a press agent. It was a foreign concept and where actors were happy being in the good books of a bunch of entertainment journalists and vice versa. Reporters revelled in their company—scribbling away the tiny tiffs on a film set. Any publicity was good publicity for the producers. Also, actors loved the journalist's loyalty. A tight nexus emerged, and it seemed nothing could go wrong.
And then fickle gossip became main news.
Actors needed an armour, a filter and a steady flow of positive information in the press. It was working—soon Aamir became the ‘thinking man’s actor’ and ‘intellectual star’ and ‘choosy’ with his roles according to the press. The headlines covered his metamorphosis. Others, too, got into the circus.
Journalist and blogger Soumyadipta Banerjee recounts how, during the transition period, his connection with actors' managers irked the PRs. “They soon ganged up and threatened to boycott the newspaper [where he worked]." Soon, Banerjee realised that one of the PRs had dropped in to visit the CEO of the company. “I knew my job was on the line then,” he adds. But this was 12 years ago. Today, PRs dictate the terms. And therein lies the problem. In a bid to get their star client a few extra front page coverages, these adrenaline-charged PRs often overstep the line between creativity and balderdash. We asked around to list a few instances.
“The Neil Nitin Mukesh PR stint was the worst one ever,” says entertainment journalist Asira Tarannum. She is referring to a wayward report that took the press by storm—it said Neil Nitin Mukesh has been roped in for a role in the Game of Thrones. The press went into overdrive, guessing the character, building a storyline and theorising everything from his hair colour to his accent. The connection was Greg Powell, stunt coordinator for Game of Thrones and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Neil even confirmed the news to a tabloid, adding that it was a pivotal character and he had no qualms about going nude. After a weekend of Neil overdose, HBO finally confirmed that the news was rubbish.
(File) Neil Nitin Mukesh
Neil isn't the only one. Asira narrates the tale of India’s once publicity queen, Mallika Sherawat. “She had put out this story that she has been hanging out with Spanish and Hollywood star, Antonio Banderas. She was now his close friend.” Notably, newspapers wanted confirmation and mailed Banderas’s PR company. “Their response was, ‘Who is Mallika Sherawat?’”
While these could very well have been the actors’ ideas, PRs also fabricate stories to ensure the actors get maximum coverage. “It is a cross-subsidy system,” says a senior reporter who does not wish to be named. “It basically means that a PR who handles a star and charges 50k from him, would approach a newbie for an exorbitant fee. Later, the PR would only give out stories about the star if the journalist gives a good coverage to the smaller actor as well,” he adds. It is a win-win situation for both!
But this has not always worked well with celebrities. It was heard on the grapevine that a top female actor was fuming after a false story of her being pregnant was spread by her own PR agent. Her film was up for release and the PR had decided to get creative. She, apparently, fired the agent.
It went the other way around for Kangana Ranaut, who found that the PR agent she moved on from was filing negative stories about her. The PR, who is known to threaten her clients of spreading false rumours lest they leave her, was on to her usual tricks. With no patience for this, Kangana sent a legal notice to the agent, and that was the end of it.
Then there are the umpteen marriage/divorce/link-up/break-up stories before a film’s release. “Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone break up each time their film is up for release,” says a young reporter who does not wish to be named. “But the most ridiculous has to be Malaika Arora Khan and Arbaaz Khan,” the reporter adds. Malaika and Arbaaz had spread rumours of them being on the brink of divorce. Turned out that it was a PR stunt for a cosmetic company campaign, where they kiss and make up in front of the press.
(File) Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora | AFP
However, for another show, they lied about being together, while they had already separated. But while Malaika and Arbaaz hopefully minted good money for their fake breakup/makeup (even though they eventually got divorced last year), there have been instances of actors faking relationships to be in the news. A one-film old female actor once shared how the star kid she was debuting with, wanted to fake an affair for their film. She refused, but lately, he has been seen ‘dating’ another star kid whose film is on the floors. “According to a website, Kangana Ranaut has apparently dated this doctor from abroad. She would always stay mum on this affair for the longest time, but when rumours of link-ups between her and Ajay Devgn became rife, costing her more projects with him, images of her holding hands with a foreigner cropped up out of nowhere,” the young reporter adds.
Then there was this female actor, known for her acting prowess, who let it slip that a big-shot male director had taken a fancy to her. The problem was that the director was also rumoured to be gay. The reporter asked the actor why did she think he was into her? “Oh, it is the way he holds my hand—he is not as comfortable with anyone else,” she replied!
But these tactics to gain a few extra lines in the newspaper continues and is done by the big and small alike. At an event for Rakhi Sawant film event, a lady abruptly hopped on to the stage and slapped the director, much to videographers' delight. Then we have Aamir Khan, almost crying for every film screening he was a part of. He cried for PK, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and even Katti Batti!
Eyebrows have also been raised when top female actors who are part of tragic biopics cry during the launch of their trailer, poster and music event. It could have been genuine emotion or an elaborate PR stunt. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan shed tears for Sarbjit and Sonam Kapoor for Neerja at their respective events, and we hope it was worth it!
But, nothing can beat this. During the promotions of the film on Mumbai’s top crime kings, a call went out to some of the more prolific journalists with a secret message. One of them who we spoke to said that they were promised to be flown out to Pakistan in a matter of days (they have to be ready to pack up and leave), to meet Dawood Ibrahim. Take a moment to let it sink. Yes, and it doesn’t end there. Dawood was supposed to watch the film with these journos and even host a discussion on it! The worst part was that the PR actually believed that the producers of the film (which was loosely based on Haji Mastan and Dawood’s lives) would arrange a meeting with the world’s most wanted criminal.
And if you thought that PR stunts are part of only the film industry, you could not be more mistaken. “There was a story put out by the PR agent of a TV serial based on two sisters, which said that the leading ladies managed to board a flight posing as conjoined twins. We checked with the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) who said that if they did, they will be arrested for flouting security laws. Needless to say, we never heard from the PR agent again,” shares another reporter on condition of anonymity.
This is just a small part of the pie. Look at Ram Gopal Verma’s tweets before the release of his films. But that is another story for another time.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the publication
