Beyond Bollywood

Every year, thousands upon thousands of struggling actors from all over the world move to the movie capital of India with dreams of becoming the next Salman Khan or Priyanka Chopra. But in an industry obsessed with star-kids, the chances of making it are slim at best. Haroon speaks to two ‘outsiders’ who have managed to crack that glass ceiling – actress Katrina Kaif and actor Sidharth Malhotra. They tell Haroon how they deal with the pressure of always having to look like a Bollywood star; why Katrina was her own make-up artists for years and how Sidharth is choosing roles which push against his ‘pretty-boy’ looks.

It takes a village to create a Hindi-film star. Behind-the-scenes, there are teams of managers and publicists working hard to create and maintain the image of the star who employs them. Working long before the star wakes and long after the star goes to bed, these people are invisible to most of us but are well-known power-players inside the industry. Haroon sits-down with Shah Rukh Khan’s former publicist Mandvi Sharma and pap-king Viral Bhayani to find out how the two sides actually work together to help create a star; Mandvi talks about why most star-managers in Mumbai are women and Viral talks about why photographers like him are still important in helping an actor jump from the B to the A-List.

Haroon sits down with one of Bollywood’s best-kept secrets – nutritionist, Dr Siddhant Bhargava. Co-founder of company Food Darzee, Dr Siddhant supplies ready-made healthy meals and eating plans to A-List stars including Alia Bhatt and Sara Ali-Khan. Haroon finds out about the extraordinary levels of discipline required to follow Dr Siddhant’s bespoke programme; how he helps actors slim-down after an indulgent holiday and also reveals some of the secretive (and unhealthy) ways stars get their bodies camera-ready.

With streaming sites taking business from cinemas, the Hindi film industry is desperately trying to reach Gen Z who prefer to stay home and watch YouTube instead. Haroon talks to Pinkvilla’s Nayandeep Rakshit, YouTuber Prajakta Koli and PTI journalist Justin Rao about the power-shift from the star talent to content-creators. Nayandeep names the actor who gave him his worst ever interview-experience; Justin talks about what happened when footage of actress Kangna Ranaut ‘confronting’ him at a press conference went viral and Prajakta talks about how stars now treat her given she’s a massive online-star compared to the radio intern at first meeting.

While many Hindi film fans will watch any movie starring their favourite actors, others will check what the critics say before they part with their cash. Haroon meets some of India’s most celebrated reviewers – renowned critic Rajeev Masand, Film Companion’s Sucharita Tyagi and Huffington Post’s Ankur Pathak - and finds out if stars and critics can ever be friends; how they judge good from bad and hears just how disheartening they find under-whelming films regularly breaking box-office records.