It wouldn’t really be putting things out of proportion if I said we as a country are absolutely crazy about two things, majorly, Cricket and movies or rather the film stars, really. It is not everyday that somebody like me gets to meet stars like Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rohit Shetty and the likes; so, when opportunity presented itself, I just couldn’t reject. They were in the Capital to promote their upcoming film, “Chennai Express” and thanks to limited entry to the media courtesy special invites only, and other important guests, the number of people present for a special interview session were only a handful, and I got to really feel the real atmosphere once we all (the stars, and I among others) moved out. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. The 4 floors of the mall was completely jam-packed, and it was just impossible to even move one step, forget anything else. It was almost an atmosphere which one needs to see to believe.
Now, I don’t really know why the film-stars of our country are praised like Gods, may be that’s because of some social reasons whereby Hindi movies have almost created an larger than life image of these stars, or perhaps some other crazy phenomenon, but it was just unbelievable. I barely managed to snap these 2 pictures just to give you an idea of the crowd and what crazy atmosphere it was. The number of people you see in these pictures is just an tip of the proverbial iceberg. I cannot even begin to calculate how many pair of eyes were gawking and vying, jostling for space just to see their fav. stars performing live infront of them. I am sure it would’ve almost been an opportunity of a life-time for many of them (going by their reactions). Age group was a no-bar, there were kids aged 3-4 to elderly people who must be atleast 70+ years of age fighting for space.
The stars came, they performed, they conquered and set the stage on fire. The entire crowd present there were going absolutely mad; crazy, really. I have had the opportunity to shoot quite a few stars in my career (whether it be exclusively, or for any specific event, etc.), and each time I have wondered what makes us praise them like crazy. May be cinema as a mass media has greater reach to every nook & corner of this big country, especially the male leading stars almost control the mass affection & adulation, mostly from their fan associations in particular and also on the basis of their talent & performance ofcourse.
I haven’t been to Hollywood, or even seen the kind of craze those guys have for their stars, but whatever the case might be, we are a bunch of crazy people. Now, when I say “crazy”, I don’t mean it in a bad way, but there are times when I have seriously wondered how does it feel to be on the other side of the fence? To see lakhs of people who would give their lives (well, almost!) to get one glimpse of their favourite stars? How would it feel to have all that affection & love? I cannot even begin to fathom; all I can say is I am, as a matter of fact, one of those crazy fans. I rest my case.
...in search of that perfect world. 