The idea of ‘looking up, then cooking up’ stories to keep the stars in the news started a few years ago. Earlier, the actors themselves would feed the grapevine of stories to media, but now they hide behind PR managers to do the dirty work!

In Bollywood movies, you might have seen the snooty rich kids go and threaten newspapers for publishing bad articles about them... and the threats usually started with, ‘tu janta nahi mai kaun hun?’ Well, that happens in real life too! Actors, and nowadays PR managers, lash out at journalists for bad reviews and sometimes even get them fired!

Salman Khan spoke about how his father bought him a cycle worth `3,000 when he was earning `7,000 only. He has been using nostalgia to gain consideration
Salman Khan spoke about how his father bought him a cycle worth Rs 3,000 when he was earning Rs 7,000 only. He has been using nostalgia to gain consideration

PR agents have a tough job too. “If I wake up with an angry, abusive call from the actor, all I can do is pass on the s**t to the journalist who has published the story and made my client upset,” admits a PR manager.

And then there are the fake stories, of course. PR agents ruffle up gossips about their clients and make it news. Recently, a few stories emerged about a rift between Tiger Shroff and director Sabir Khan over their upcoming Munna Michael.

Ranbir Kapoor is not happy with the way news about him is being circulated and he wants to hire a PR who will only talk about his work, and not his personal life.
Ranbir Kapoor is not happy with the way news about him is being circulated and he wants to hire a PR who will only talk about his work, and not his personal life.

While Tiger Shroff denied about any conflict, he also called it a ‘PR stunt’. Well, we’d like to know whose PR did the stunt? Of course, media is also a platform to let people know who’s the biggest star in the industry. Aamir Khan went ballistic that Baahubali did better than Dangal at the Indian Box Office. So instead, he quickly named Dangal to have broken all records in China!

Every actor wants to be seen in the media for positive stories. Ranbir Kapoor, for instance, is not very happy with the way news about him is being circulated in the media and he now wants to hire a PR who will only talk about his work, and not his personal life.

Salman Khan has recently hired the services of his former PR, who handled the publicity of Tere Naam. From being ‘the good and the ridiculous’ in the media, the emphasis is now to be given to Salman’s kind heartedness and his service to society.

Salman talked about road accidents during the launch of Being Human cycles where Salman also spoke about how his father bought him a cycle worth Rs 3,000 when he was earning around Rs 7,000 only. He has been using nostalgia to gain consideration, while also speaking about his heartbreaks.

“What can we talk about an actor, especially when they do not have work?” a top PR professional says. “Stories like ‘I lost my dog’, ‘I care for the poor’, ‘I helped my neighbour’, are passé and I can’t sell such stories.”

There are only so many avenues actors can be talked about, and relationships and conflicts are few of the best! Although paid news is so common these days that rarely any actor now makes the news, as most just fake it!

Marketing strategies
Amitabh Bachchan’s letter to his granddaughters Aaradhya and Navya Naveli talking about many important issues was rightly timed with the promotions of Pink. But when he was recently asked about Priyanka Chopra being trolled, he said he is neither the PM nor PC to comment.

Akshay Kumar
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