No yaari dosti & you're safe!
by: Nilufer Qureshi
- filmfare.com
Few people tell a story better than ad film-maker Prahlad Kakkar. And he has more in his duffel bag than he can lug around. Superstars, cricketing icons, slinky models, hot hunks — he’s shot them all. Get him talking about the stars he’s worked with and the memories come tumbling out faster than you can handle. So we asked him to pick a few names from his maverick hat. Sure, he said, and even added a insight or two to go with it. Over to Prahlad Kakkar. The main thing with stars is not to get too familiar with them. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing and the moment you get into the yaari-dosti zone, disenchantment sets in. So I don’t push my access to them beyond a point. One of the reasons I have such good relationships with the actors I’ve worked with is because we are not into each other’s crotches.
So here’s a view from a safe distance.
AISHWARYA RAI
Her defense is aloofness.
The first stars I worked with as an independent ad film-maker were Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Mahima Chaudhary for the Pepsi commercial.
We’d launched Aishwarya and the “Hi, I’m Sanju” ad was her second commercial. She was nervous because she had to play a bombshell and she didn’t feel like one; she was a simple middle-class college girl.
People only see her good looks and seemingly sound business sense but there’s a lot more to Ash. Her defense against embarrassment is aloofness, so everybody thinks she’s a cold beauty who is slightly distant.
But I developed a great fondness for her. We’ve spent many hours talking about life, relationships and men. I miss our conversations but she is too busy now. We hardly ever meet even though we stay in the same building. When we do, we share awkward moments sometimes, and warm ones at times. They’re awkward when I want to tell her what she doesn’t want to hear. They’re awkward for me because I don’t know how to put things delicately.
But she’s a great girl. I’ve always had a crush on her and still do.
