Celebrity Remix

Celebrities are like instant cake mix, buy a pack, use and be sure it will work. Andy Warhol redefined art by bringing in the popular element through painting Campbell Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe. It was different and interesting because people could recognize these icons immediately. The easy recall of the the subject turned the artist into a celebrity too.

Now comes this news “London, June 30 (ANI): Charles Saatchi has bought a painting depicting the scene where Hollywood star Hugh Grant was caught in a "lewd act" with prostitute Divine Brown. Saatchi plans to display the painting in his County Hall gallery, along with another of the spot where actress Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting in 2001. “

One celebrity’s discomfiture becomes the grist to the entertainment mill of the million others. Such has been the burden of fame. “Only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about” said Oscar Wilde. And the celebrities (at least some of them) are quite used to flaunting their private lives and living off the resultant publicity. 

The hot topic is the doings of Preity Zinta and whether or not she will marry Ness Wadia. It is not likely to make a difference to our lives, but we like the diversion of the thought. Similarly, a few days back there was a great storm the world over when rumours broke that Aishwarya Rai had perished in a car accident. A friend of mine in Singapore was besiged with calls and sms’s. She had to go online immediately and discover the ‘truth’ for herself.

Celebrity endorsements of products is recognised as extremely successful because it carries with it all the goodwill enjoyed by the star. Lux soap has traditionally been using the lastest top heroine for their advertisement. Recently they broke fresh ground by using Shahrukh Khan as the centre piece to the heroines. No wonder Lux is one of the most recognisable brands among the soaps. Ditto for soft drinks. They are most particular about the star they pick for their brand and use him to the hilt. A young girl vowed to drink only Coke after Hritik appeared in an Coke advertisement. This was, of course, right after the super success of “Kaho Na Pyaar Hai”

The dresses worn by celebrities are another feature of this mania. Bobby’s clips and pretty mini’s and halter necks were a rage. These days it's Tulsi’s sarees, bindi’s and jewellery. The seedha pallu in the sarees became a hot item after Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. Babita’s hair bands, Sadhana’s haircut, Saira Banu’s eye makeup, all took on a life of their own and were turned into icons in the fashion world. 

If I tell my hairdresser that I want a haircut like Hugh Grant’s, she knows exactly what I am talking about. Kareena’s dresses and tops are sought after, Malaika’s shoes, Preity Zinta’s hairdo.. everyone wants exactly that. The celebrities are like walking and talking fashion brigade. Easy to copy, easy to point out, easy to recall.

In a darker shade, the ill-doings of the celebrities are also a huge talking point. Sometimes heinous crimes like running a jeep over pavement sleepers is turned into a media tamasha just because a celebrity is involved. Deer hunting, poaching by celebrites become huge issues where the celebrity status often covers the crime in a veneer of glamour. People are ready to condone the misdeeds of their favorite hero because they are too star-struck to realize that any crime should be made to pay.

The most recent case in point is Rahul Mahajan. Just because he is the son of a late politician, he still has enough clout to be able to force the hospital to cover his drug related illness with a mild ‘food poisioning’ one. That is until his case was brought under a cloud because of an aide dying which brought about a flurry of investigations that compromised his position. Now he is facing serious charges, and so are all those who were his accomplices. 

As is actor Fardeen Khan who was arrested in a similar ‘possession of drug’ case. These people face imprisonment for their misdeeds. However, had the people involved not been celebrites, the media attention would soon have shifted to other things. But at the moment these people are grabbing headlines in the newspaper and TV world.