They gotta look good, no matter what!
They step out of the airport, and the cameras go click. They’re on their way to the gym, and the cameras go click. They’re out for dinner and the cameras go click. The pressure to look good is now 24/7 for Bollywood stars, (no) thanks to the paparazzi culture and the nonstop social media critiquing; which is why, many actors are opting for professional styling even for non-redcarpet outings.
Actor Nushrat Bharucha follows the norm, but says that she does “wish that it was a bit relaxed, because you can’t look perfect all the time”. She adds, “This culture is adding pressure on celebs to maintain a look even off film [sets]. To add to the misery, there are also trolls and people questioning [the celebrities’] style sense.”
Celebrity stylist Mohit Rai, who dresses actors Kajol and Sonakshi Sinha, among others, goes with the view that celebs are, indeed, under pressure. “A lot of celebs come to me for airport looks and other such off-red-carpet looks,” he says, pointing out that the constant public scrutiny makes the pressure “damn real”.
Even filmmaker Karan Johar recently spoke of how he and his friends have got a WhatsApp group named “Guttts”, where they discuss celebs’ airport looks, such as “what were they thinking?”
However, celebrity stylist Tanya Ghavri, who works with actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shraddha Kapoor, feels differently. She says, “I don’t think all the celebrities care so much about pap images. The actors I work with, they wear what they’re comfortable in for everyday chores.”
One outcome of this styling pressure is that labels get a nice bit of publicity. Designer Kartik Dhingra says, “When celebs wear my label, it piques the interest of people in my target market.” The “airport look” is a “big deal”, he says.