Dear Shweta Tiwari, Sack Your PR Team

Dear Shweta Tiwari,

In the rat-race one  sometimes  ends up putting one’s foot in one’s mouth, and it get stuck there.The remark that  you made  in Bhopal about your lingerie(li-bral thoughts,  you must  have thought) and   its (the lingerie) bizarre connection with  God, confirmed the one  suspicion that we all have about entertainers: that they should just entertain and  not open their pretty  mouths  about national political  or religious  matters.

Religion is  a special no-no when  it comes to public  giggles.  Didn’t  your parents tell  you that?My dear  friend Javed Akhtar has  very interesting views on stars and their public utterances. “Anything they say can and will be held  against them. So better not say anything. I have interacted with many actors who don’t even know  who the President  Of India is. Stick to what you know.Don’t get into areas that are completely darkened for you.”

This is why I  like Shah  Rukh Khan these days. After  having burnt his fingers  with his impetuous comments  on  men and matters, SRK has decided to say absolutely nothing, not even when his son is taken away to jail for no  fault of his.

In your case we can’t even say you are being targeted for being a celebrity.  Firstly, and I don’t mean to be  impolite, you are  no Shah  Rukh Khan. I  remember  you  in Ekta Kapoor’s long-running series  Kasauti Zindagi Kay. Thereafter I can’t recall anything you have done…until now when suddenly a completely off-kilter  remark connecting  innerwear with God  has  the nation asking,who is that girl???

In that sense your  marketing team has  hit bull’s eye,Lady, you are in the  news. Congratulations. But at  what cost? Do you realize  how foolhardy  it is to make such a cheap  statement at a  time when the  nation’s sensitivities are at  their  highest?Celebrities are known to  get into serious  trouble without  knowing what they are doing. This time there was no  oops  about what  you did:  you knew exactly what  you were saying, and why. You  got your 7 minutes of  fame. But it may cost you  very dearly.

You need  to change your PR  strategy. There are  easier ways  to  get attention these days. Rakhi Sawant, the  master of marketing manipulation, says  a lot of  outrageous  things. But she  keeps  God out of her rant.Rakhi had once confided in me, “I may  be doing things to  shock.  But I make  sure that  I don’t say anything that will hurt any  community’s sentiments. I have my family, my mother and brother, who would have to suffer the consequences.So I stay within  my limits even when I am being  outrageous.”

Here is  what you  need to teach your daughter who is stepping into showbiz: never speak out of turn; no need to have an  opinion on anything besides the work that  she does. No need  to hide  your face either when  you are out on a date with a star-son. When you try to  protest too hard about the attention, you are actually drawing more attention to yourself.

There are two kinds of attention: the one that gets you followers and the one that  follows you  down to  your last breath.When one day in the very distant  future  your end comes, you don’t want to be  remembered  as the  lady who said something weird  about Bhagwan…Or  do you?

Sincerely

Subhash K Jha