Bollywood Actresses Branding rocks!
Kareena Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are perfect examples of being famous for their flops. Kareena Kapoor has had it easy, literally. It hasn’t exactly been a rough ride for the Kapoor babe from Day One itself. Even though she left the blockbuster role of female lead in Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai against macho Hrithik Roshan to Ameesha Patel, she managed to garner much more publicity for her flop debut, Refugee, than what Ameesha did for her superhit starter. And that was the beginning of a new mantra to market a diva — hit or no hit, the Brand has to hit the headlines.
And it was this very marketing mantra which saw the rise, rise and only rise for Kareena Kapoor. Even after a spate of flops like Asoka, Yaadein, Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Jeena Sirf Tere Liya, Tashan etc the youngest Kapoor kid saw all the big names from Karan Johar to Yash Chopra to Mani Ratnam and Boney Kapoor vying for her attention. Film after film flopped, but nothing changed much for Bebo. She continued to demand very high rates, which paradoxically kept rising with each flop!
And following in her footsteps closely was none other than our very own grey-green eyed goddess, Aishwarya Rai who, in spite of not having given a single hit in the start of her career for very long hit the jackpot with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and is the most ‘sought-after’ Bollywood actress today.
So, this is the Bebo-Ash blockbuster story. What is it that makes the two divas eligible for the big league which otherwise has names like Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra who, by now, must have lost count of their hit films? “Both Ash and Bebo have class. I know them closely. They have talent as well as beauty, and I guess this combination is more than enough to please the audience. At the same time, one must not forget that Ash is a big international star,” asserts Showman Subhash Ghai who has earlier directed Ash in Taal and has done as many as three films with Kareena.
Film critic Indu Mirani punches in a more logical explanation to this unique phenomenon. “I think Aishwarya and Kareena are totally different girls as far as personality and presentation go. But their careers are similar in the sense that they have got all the good stuff in spite of not having hit films. I think it’s because there are very few actually hot leading ladies in the industry today. Rani, Preity and Priyanka cannot take up all the roles, right? There are very few A-grade heroines. And these two girls know how to present themselves. They are also very media-savvy and hence it has been easy for them,” she says.
But why isn’t it easy for other talented good-looking girls, too, as, say, Lara Dutta? Why hasn’t she matched up to this grade? “Kareena, of course, is a pedigreed girl. She has been lucky as she belongs to the Kapoor Khaandaan. She also had her sister Karishma, a superstar in her own right. For Ash, I think it’s more of media hype with her scintillating beauty helping in a big way,” explains Mirani. And no one can forget the hypes she got throughout her career by attaching her name with Bolly-boys like Salman and Vivek and then by entering the Bachchan house by marrying junior B.
And if we throw back a look, this trend doesn’t seem to be very new. There are examples in the past also where artistes, even though they hadn’t given a single hit, had dozens of movies in their kitty. For example, in the 80s, the pinup girl of that time, Sonam, had close to 40 films in her kitty even before her first film was out for review! Similar was the case with Chunky Panday who, apart from Aankhen with Govinda, has no film to be remembered him by. But he was one of the hottest dial-a-quote stars of late 80s.
Production designer Bindiya Dutta, wife of filmmaker J P Dutta, and herself hyped as a Hema Malini clone in her heyday, has had the experience of working with Ash and Bebo; and sums it up, “For us, hits and flops are inconsequential. We are only here to do good work and definitely we choose our leading ladies according to what they suit best. Like Refugee wouldn’t have been the same without Kareena and Umrao Jaan without Ash was unimaginable.”
What a hit explanation! One can easily understand the need of branding whether it’s in business world or the world of show-business.
-(SAMPURN)
kareena looks fair and ash is looking smart
all humans are only limited in beauty!
no human being is extrememly pure or beautiful
Glad someone brought up the topic of why Kareena gets such a huge sum of money when she has no talent (ofcourse, that is not what you said). I usually, do not watch movies starring Kareena because of her awful acting abilities and her annoying attitude. (And her more than often bitchy remarks towards other heroines makes me hate her even more). I never understand why directors still give her roles or are even ready to pay so much money. Ofcourse, she does have fans everywhere but if you look at the count its somewhere like 1 or 2 in 10 while other heroines like Aishwarya, Rani or Preity has fans of atleast 5 in 10. I think its something like this, when a person is very confident of themselves, many people unconsciously also start to think that this person is very great. Kareena’s situation is very similar, she thinks she is a gift to all of us, she is so confident that many believe (atleast 1 in 10) that she is hot and talented. In reality, she is just a spoiled kid who has a good body (rather had a good body but now is just bones; a head too large for her body and looks almost like a guy) and is not even close to a good actress.
Aishwarya on the other hand, even though I am not a fan of her… she does have a quality about her. She is a horrible actress (unless, she falls in the hands of directors like Mani Ratnam or Sanjay Leela Bhansali) but she did make Hollywood run after her. So, I don’t mind her being the top actress right now. But I do wish she uses a good stylist and not wear any hilarious clothes. Atleast she doesn’t bitch about others like our Kareena.
I do wish all actresses are like Rani and Preity (Especially Preity). Preity doesn’t act dumb or silly, she is an amazing actress and seems to be an awesome person in real life. Also, her new movies about to release soon sound very interesting. Rani is a very good actress and she is another actress like Aishwarya who has an aura surrounding her.
Hope the world opens their eyes (I mean, the directors) and stop giving roles to Kareena, that is Saif’s job. Make movies with a real actress, not a bimbo like Kareena.
I really don’t understand such comparisons. Can you show me any actor who has not had any flops. For a mpvie to be hit, it should have a tight direction, a good script and a suitable starcast. All the three are important. An actor or a actress single handedly cannot be the reason for a movie’s success. We all know that Dil se was a flop. Even Sharukh’s films flop, Amitabh’s films have flopped. That doesn’t mean that the leading ladies are to blame. Yeah I am not saying that Kareena is Talented. I liked her only in JWM. But please don’t say Ash is in the same league. Ash didn’t have a surname to look for. She started new and fresh. She had no one to guide her in choosing. But she has more number of hits than Kareena and all her hits are smash hits. She has now delivered successive hits. As far as Rani is considered its just the hoopla around her. Had Ash been more conscious in her role selections and kept away from the likes of the arrogants like Salman and Vivek both of whom behaved as they own her, most of Rani’s hits would have been Ash’s. She has surely stood on her capabilities. We all know that Rani has a filmi Background and that’s how she ended up with her debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Now that Ash has learned the trade secrets there are no considerable options for Rani. Surely it was Ash’s mistakes which made Rani famous and not the latters acting.
Who said that Aishwarya is a goddess…..please give us a break.
Aishwarya and Kareena are the most annoying People in the whole of bollywood.
aishwarya is WORLD No 1 Actress UNDERSTAND!!!!!
I have been a critic for 13 years now and i work for a a very well known magazine……. I have seen the career path of Ash very closely. From the year 1996 till 2006 she had only few hits (Hum Dil De…., Devdas, Jeans, Raincoat(critically acclaimed only))It was more of selection problem only……
Now let me show the graph from 2006 to till date all are movies have been a hit (Chokker Bali (critic appreciation),Dhoom 2, Guru, Provoked (Best performance till date), Jodhaa Akbar and Sarkar Raaj)…Clearly shows are maturity in selection of the roles and she showed be complemented for this………Also interestingly ppl like me who never appreciated her acting have now changed their opinion and come to a conclusion that she is truly a great director’s very good actor……….Her popularity is only going to sky rocket in the coming years…..All the best to Ash
Very well written.
Ha ha ha…Aishwarya a good actress. I don’t know when will people start understanding the fact that a good actress is not a good looking person.
kareena kapoor is not cut out to be an actor, i don’t understand what was so good about jab we met. maybe it doesn’t deserve to be a flop. if it did succeed because of kareena….why on earth did it. she is her same old annoying self, without her snobby behaviour from mujhse dosti karoge. shahid is the one who should’ve bagged all the awards for that movie. on aishwarya’s part, i think she has everything it takes to be a good actor and she is improving with her acting in every film even if it flops or is a hit.
kareen is a good actress and so is aishwarya and they both are very pretty i understand that some people dont like them especially kareena because she canget annoying
kareena made a very big mistake breaking up with shahid kapoor she shouldn’t listen to anyone she is verrrryyyy wrong i don’t agree with her on this situation.
to my own point of view is just to please every one is the greatest form of error so i thing if ishould be one of them there is nothing for me to boder my self for