Time was when stars used to handle their affairs through a manager who was then called a secretary. They — the stars — were more approachable then and also more considerate. The culture then changed. Came in talent management agencies and spoilt the entire ecosystem.
Managers, employed by such agencies, are assigned to the different stars whose business affairs the agencies handle. Believe it or faint but oftentimes, these managers, with zero knowledge about scripts or even about how films are made, read film scripts and decide — on behalf of the stars — whether it is worth the actor’s while to be associated with the film. It is not rare for the stars to not even be aware that his/her manager has rejected a script on his/her behalf. And if he/she is aware, the knowledge may not include information as to what the script was about or on what grounds it was rejected. Sometimes, even top directors are not spared. They are not allowed to meet with the stars and have to depend upon the idiotic (yes, that’s the most civil way to describe many) managers to approve the script.
Of course, this is not to say that the stars are never in the know of things. Sometimes, the star is completely aware that his/her manager behaves in this obnoxious manner, but he continues to allow that. The silly logic behind this is that the more the actor becomes unavailable to producers, the more his market price will increase.
This story about a leading man will shock you! The star loses no opportunity to shout from the rooftops about how he made it big in this industry without any Godfather in spite of being a rank newcomer from a non-metro city. While that’s true, it does not give him or his team the right to behave the way they do. The IFFI organisers approached this star’s manager for the star’s presence at the opening ceremony in Goa. After a lot of dilly-dallying and carefully emphasising that the actor was extremely busy and that he would have to make adjustments to make himself available for the Festival, the manager made such ridiculous demands that the IFFI authorities are still in a state of shock. Two suites in a hotel of the actor’s choice was the first horrifying demand. Err, two suites for one star? Yes, one suite for his stay and the other for him to change his clothes!! If you are still in a state where you can read further, be informed that the manager also announced that the star would travel with an entourage of — hold your breath — 10 persons! Ten persons for a trip of a few hours to Goa?!?
The IFFI organisers, quite obviously, told the manager to get lost — in more polite words, of course. Upon this, the star — who knew about the outrightly stupid demands put forward by his manager — got so insecure that he started harrowing the IFFI organisers to include him in the opening ceremony because he was now willing to bring down the number of persons who would be travelling with him. But the IFFI authorities were in no mood to oblige. Like Amitabh Bachchan’s memorable dialogue in Pink, the Festival organisers said, “No means no.”
