Faking A Fan Following…How Authentic Are The Fan Responses ?
A new video showing Priyanka Chopra emerging from an airport has been caught out by observant net users as being doctored. The same two fans who accost her at the beginning of the video are seen running after her again for autographs at the end.
Either the “fans” have nothing better to do than chase their “favourite” star on the airport. Or , shocking as it seems,these are hired fans.
The practice of inflating fan participation at public places was earlier a phenomenon restricted to politicians only. At election campaign rallies cheering audiences were habitually hired to make the politicians look more popular than they really were.Voters were impressed by the amplified crowds.
But actors following the same practice appears an exercise in redundancy as they already have a a massive following.
Shatrughan Sinha who has faced the frenzy as both an actor and politician is surprisingly candid about “hired hysteria”.
Though he refrains from commenting on the Priyanka video Shatrughan Sinha says, “Whether a film star or a politicians he or she must look larger than life in public. It all about an image creation. If you see no one chasing an actor at the airport how would it look to the viewer on the television or on the internet? On the other hand if we see so-called fans running after a star it does create a positive impression on the onlooker. Personally I’ve never had to hire crowds to listen to me. By the Grace of God I’ve always had an attentive audience both as an actor and a politician.”
One of today’s top star-actors , recently much in the news for exciting happenings in his personal life, has an over-enthusiastic PR team which has been instructed to amass ‘fan slabs’ at public events who are generated on demand to shriek and shout when Mr Superstar shows up at the event(suitably late). He then waves at the crowds as they shriek and whistle.
While major PR companies refused to comment on the practice of hired hysteria one prominent PR person on condition of anonymity confessed it is “common practice”. “Stars no matter how big , have to order swollen crowds for their public outings. Why only airports or restaurants ?Imagine what a star’s public outing would look like if at a stage concert he or she has a near-empty auditorium? This happens quite often during star worldtours and “fans” are given free tickets to fill the seats.”
A young filmmaker failed to appreciate the hype around the Ranveer-Deepika wedding. “I wonder if Indians all across the world actually set all their work aside on the day of the wedding and waited baited breath for the wedding pictures. Or was it a mere perception created to hype up the couple’s ‘very private’ wedding? Perhaps this is how stars have their cake and eat it too.”
