Avatar Posted by Manjushaa 1654 days ago (Editorial)
Category: General | Tags: pr shahrukh khan
Hi,
I don't know how many of you are conversant with the business of public relations. I think, not many. Public Relations or PR sounds like some department in the government but it is actually a very clever communication process that is used rampantly these days. All big companies, filmstars, politicians and other celebrities use it. PR of personalities is limited in India but PR of companies is a very well accepted practice.

So what is PR? and What all does it involve?
PR basically aims at building and sustaining a good image or a desired image of the concerned company or a person. It achieves so by mention or profiling in the right places in the media, by designing the media messages in the desired way and continuing to do so over a period of time to bring about a perception change.
eg - There is a new pharmaceutical company that wants to establish itself in the market. So, what will PR do? They will try to publish the profile of the company or its products or the CEO in different newspapers or magazines or tv channels at every given opportunity so that, people know that such a company exists, has so and so products and is a noteworthy company. Whenever, a news story or article about the pharmaceutical industry is being published, the PR will ensure that this company's name is mentioned somewhere. It will ensure that the CEO's opinions find a place when opnions from significant people in the industry are sought on a certain issue.
Whenever there is any development in the company like company getting huge orders, getting into tie ups with other company or raising additional capital or putting up a new plant or declaring dividend on shares or any such big or small news, PR will try to get it published in various publications or featured on business tv channels.
PR machinery would advice the company to get associated with a tv program or a social activity that is relevant to its business and would help get the publicity indirectly.
In short, PR machinery will ensure that the said company remains in the public eye, is always presented in a positive way and is looked upon as a good company or a fastest growing company or technologically advanced company or any such positive image that company wants to present. So, over a period of time, the company that no one knew about is established as a noteworthy company in the public mind. This is a very general and primary description of PR activity but it will give you a some idea of PR.

PR people maintain good relations with the media people and influence them to publish the desired messages. In case of celebrities, they themselves maintain good relations with media people and make them write or say good things about them (Well known column writers included) Some times, news or articles are blatantly paid for. Sometimes some other arrangement like article for ads etc is worked out. This does not mean that most of the news published is influenced or paid for and that PR people are immoral manipulators. But these things happen and therefore, everything that appears in the media should not be taken at the face value.

Film industry is a place where stakes are very high and good publicity of a person or a product can make a difference of crores of rupees. There are films to be sold, Advertising contracts or endorsements to grab. So, film PR is very intense and full of all possible manipulations. Moreover, people don't take film and film personalities related writing very seriously. so, nobody tries to verify or question anything even if you write utterly false stories/anecdotes. You can build the image of a person if you are constantly projecting him in a certain way.
Everything that is published about him can constantly try to drive home a certain point. The features, anecdotes, tid-bits, interviews may have a different content but the underlying message is the same. It could be something like, ' here is a person who is extremely talented, who has all the good qualities, who is only one of his kind, who always does the right thing' etc etc. Let me tell you, even well know columnists are a party to this.

This is where I would like to point out at Shahrukh Khan's PR.
Shahrukh is now thoughtlessly referred to as King Khan. This terminology was coined by his PR machinery and used so consistently that it finally caught on with everybody and kind of became his title. He is one of the most successful stars but so are Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and the most enduring Amitabh Bachhan. But, somehow, people now think, Shahrukh Khan is in a different league, he stands on a pedestal and he is above everyone else. This is just a perception created by constant bombarding of clever PR messages. This is what PR can do.

I have observed that Times Group publications are a very good display of Shahrukh Khan's PR. If you are interested you can go through the issues of Times of India, Bombay Times, Mumbai Mirror, Economic Times, Filmfare or Femina (all Times Group publications) over a past few months. Or you can be observant in coming days and see how they do it.

There are very respecful mentions in small tidbits that they publish in Bombay Times or Mirror. He is relegiously mentioned as King and Badshah in whatever they write. Everything about him is written in a vein suggesting that he is exceptional, wonderful, very intelligent, charming and that everything about him is just great.

There are praises and compliments put in other people's mouth esp aspiring tv stars/newcomers in the film industry etc. His half page/full page interviews are published at regular intervals without any specific reason or relevance. Photographs are flashed with the same regulatity.

Something like him hosting a party or taking his kids on holiday or doing or not doing some mundane thing is turned in the news and written in a very indulgent way. His quotes esp digs at competitiors are published with fervor.

Whenever, they are writing about any positive trend or successful films or talented actors or even good looking actors, his photo is invariably featured there. His photographs and mention of his films find place in hard core business stories in Economic Times as well.

Whenever there is even a whiff of anything negative being said about him, interviews or tidbits explaining his side of the story are promptly published.

Reviews of his films are always written carefully. If there are bad aspects, they are written with restraint. Good aspects become 'great'. His performance is always praised. In fact, if the film is bad, he is supposed to be the only saving grace. Now watch out, no matter how so ever stupid 'Om Shanti Om' turns out to be, they will teach us how to appreciate that film and convince us how Shahrukh is just great in the film.

This doesn't stop here. The same process is reversed for his close competitors and who are probably more popular than him. Amitabh Bachhan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are ridiculed or written about in an unflattering way whenever they find the slightest reason to do so.

Recent example of PR in overdrive is Shahrukh's six-packs (I hate that word) Today every aspiring model or actor and most of the reigning stars have good bodies. Shahrukh was the only one with a not so flattering body. But he somehow managed a useless feat like showing six packs (I read that he shot the film sequences and pictures without even drinking a drop of water or else his tummy would have bloated and six packs wouldn't have been so enhanced)When they first published the pictures, there wasn't much reaction. But they worked up such a storm by constant bombarding of photographs, articles, features, opinion polls,mentions in other people's interviews that this word is now everywhere and his body is perceived as some important happening.

Even MidDay seems to have tilted in Shahrukh's favour these days.

That's why say, if at all he is king of something, it is PR and nothing else. Other actors also do their PR but they don't have the solid backing of publishing houses which Shahrukh has. (It may have something to with the ads of the products he endorses. who knows!)

It's not about one person or the other person. I care a damn about what happens to Shahrukh or Hrithik. But, my only concern is whoever are involved in this are writing a false history.

Tomorrow, if a film buff or a researcher tries to gain some knowledge about films in 90's- 2000 and goes through newspaper clippings of today's big newspapers, he would be informed that Shahrukh Khan was the greatest actor and the greatest human being to have walked the earth. He was the most talented and most popular of all Indian actors and that he was a God's gift to Indian Film industry. That is how they are projecting him.

Is it true? Is this a good practice? you decide.
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