CELEBS IN INDIA ARE VERY MUCH INTO SUPERSTITION, BE IT THEIR MOVIES OR AFFAIRS! WHY? – EPISODE 8

COMIC RELIEF – MINDING ONE’S OWN BUSINESS!!

CELEBS IN INDIA ARE VERY MUCH INTO SUPERSTITION, BE IT THEIR MOVIES OR AFFAIRS! WHY? – EPISODE 8

By Donald D’ Silva, Mira Road, Karkala

Donald D’ Silva is an Advertising Professional & Brand Strategist managing his own Digital Marketing Company in Mumbai. He writes about Current Affairs, Political Analysis, Bollywood Happenings and a variety of Social subjects.

Background:

(There are four friends who were thick and thin in their childhood. They were inseparable. Now, today they are in their 50 s and late 50s. they regularly get together and make merry as they have made their money and are well settled in their lives. It is the case of jumping early into business and tasting success. Two of them have taken VRS and settled down.)

1. Jeevan Shetty: He is the owner of three Bar & Restaurants. One in Mangalore and two in Mumbai. A billionaire in his own right. From Karkala.
2. Sathish Shenoy: He has cloth store in Moodbidri. He has two veg Restaurants in Mumbai.
3. Richard Almeida: He has one Bar & Restaurant in Mumbai.
4. Melvin D’ Mello: He has two night clubs in Mumbai.

(The four friends again gathered at Jeevan Shetty’s house. Booze flows as the conversation gathers momentum)

Jeevan: Hello Friends, Welcome to you all!! Today’s special news is all about, not Corona’s attack, but how to live with it! DK and Udupi cases are rising as expected! In Maha…the situation is worse…beyond control…!! Praying to God is the only solution!

Sathish: Yes, I also second that…. The casualties the world over and especially the developed countries and the Middle-East is totally bad…!

Richard: The extension of lockdown is required…. but social distancing is not followed properly…. It is a new thing….and moreover…it is difficult for people to cope up with…!

Melvin: People come back thinking that they can be safe in their home country…but to no avail…!!

There is no proper checking…and no proper facilities in our twin districts!! The top hospitals and also the top businessmen, it could be developers and Industrialists and moreover entrepreneurs from our twin districts who are scattered around the world should help…. take up the issue…say…form an association and try working on the charity drive….!

J: The Kerala model needs to be developed…They jumped into action immediately and NRI’s supported the government…they did the checking very fast…and remedial measures were introduced effectively! Our Film stars from here who have made it big in Mumbai need to come together and take the initiative…!!

S: You mean…again Bollywood stars…. but, they are doing it in Mumbai…successfully. But in native place …? Well…. It’s a question mark?

M: You mean….Suniel Shetty, Aishwariya Rai…Shilpa Shetty, Rohit Shetty, Manmohan Shetty etc….is it?

J: Not only them…There could be many more…who have made a big name. But are not in much circulation. Like Farah Khan’s husband Shirish Kunder and many others!

R: We can’t put pressure on them always…there could be hoteliers and Industrialists, top-notch businessmen and there is a gentleman called Sashi Kiran Shetty…who is into logistics!

J: He is the one who bought late Rajesh Khanna’s bungalow ‘Aashirvad”!

M: Yes, the same person!

S: Aishwariya and her husband’s family are super rich! Amitabh is doing something…for Bollywood workers and their families…

M: The Bollywood stars from our districts can contact the top guns like Salman, Raj Kumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and YRF people, Kekta Kapoor and there are a host of them…They will definitely help…someone should take the initiative.

J: The problem with Kekta is, she needs to visit either Siddhi Vinayak Temple or Balaji Temple and get some brain wave. Both are now closed…!! She does not act otherwise…!! She believes in miracles all the time…be it her shows or her personal life and her near and dear ones!

S: Why these so-called stars and star producers always believe in miracles, divine intervention and the involvement of God, Deities in their ventures and everyday lives?

J: It has become the norm! See, like us normal human beings, the celebs are very much superstitious! If you care to know, then most of the Bollywood personalities are crazily superstitious!

M: That is true!! You will be surprised about certain stars’ habits and beliefs!!

R: Like?

J: These stars, like businessmen, have many superstitions!! You will be surprised to know!

Shahrukh Khan always has his car numbers as ‘555’ on the number plate. Even in Chennai Express movie, he had the same number on the number plate. It was noted that he is a chain smoker as everyone knows! He used to smoke ‘555’ cigarettes earlier, till he tasted stardom. He then shifted to other Brands. Vidya Balan has a habit of going for ‘Red’ colour everywhere since her ‘Dirty Picture’ became a hit!

Crazy, the lady is, she imports a different kind of ‘Kajal’ from Pakistan, through her various means called ‘Hashmi’ Brand and uses it, as she says it brings her good luck!

S: Do they have affairs also for luck?

M: Affairs are due to infatuation and also because of the insistence of producers and directors. They need to sell their movies! At times, it is because to be known as ‘Super Jodi’! Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha and Kareena Kapoor were involved with ‘Shahid Kapoor’…. they thought he will bring them luck if they star in his movies. The ladies may laugh off today, but the industry insiders think otherwise.

Kareena Kapoor was madly in love with Shahid. He used to think about marriage, kids and moreover, Babita, her mother was totally for it! Their rendezvous was exhibited by all periodicals and the cine magazines alike.

After five years, Kareena did a movie called ‘Tashan’ and fell head over heels with ’Chote Nawab’….’Saif Ali Khan’ and rest is history. Shahid was unceremoniously dumped from her life.

The affairs are a figment of one’s imagination, the star’s shout from rooftops! But, there is no fire without smoke!!

Babita, herself did the same! When Randhir Kapoor and Raj Kapoor asked her to bide goodbye to films, she went and had affairs reportedly with Ranjeet and other stars like ‘Jeetendra’! She left Randhir and separated from him and stayed in a new house. She took her two daughters with her!

R: Dimple Kapadia also did the same! She ran away from her husband’s house….the erstwhile ‘Aashirvad’ and found solace in ‘Sunny Deol’s arms’!

Nobody, at home, questioned Sunny, as already father Dharam has set a precedent himself. His examples were followed by many others later!!

M: Strange situations!! It’s like Bollywood emulating Hollywood!

J: Films are fodder for these strange relationships!! Amitabh started wearing a sapphire ring to ward away evil. Post KBC, he jumped back. He lost all his money in ABCL, his company. Was about to be on the road! After’ KBC’, he gave an interview saying that, he was helped immensely by ‘Sahara Shri’ ….’Subrato Roy’ and he also made a statement in the media…that if he asks him to clean his office using a broom, swipe floor, then he is ready!! Because Subrato had helped him financially during his bad times!

Shilpa Shetty has a crazy habit! When she was the part-owner of IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals, she used to strap two watches on her wrist. She used to sit cross-legged when the opposition team used to bat and when her team was batting, she will sit normally!!

S: She was head over heels in love, with Akshay Khiladi Kumar!! Her mother Sunanda Shetty is a small-time Astrologer. She predicted that her ‘Kaali Billi’ daughter will become very successful one day. This happened eventually. She did make it big in Bollywood!

So madly in love with Akshay, she never realized, the Khiladi Kumar was two-timing her. He used to take her car and go and meet ‘Twinkle Khanna’ at her house. Shilpa learnt it much later, though!

Akshay improved totally after marrying Twinkle….and is a family man now! Shilpa was heartbroken. Then, she concentrated on her career. She made it big when she won the ‘Bigg Brother’ contest and became a household name worldwide. Same time, Raj Kundra fell in love with her. They got married in 2009. She did not invite Akshay to her wedding.

M: Grump has also married two times. He divorced Ivana Trump and married Melanie.

J: Now, from where did Grump come now?

M: Because, be it films or politics, all are same!! Heard that, Grump is going to wage a war on China!

S: It’s all bull shit!! It will never happen. Both are nuclear powers! Cold war, yes! Post corona’s exit, there are chances. But, the US has major casualties. They are leading in the death rate and other developed nations have succumbed badly!!

J: The affairs virus is also the same!! It has been there for ages! It is simple, a man and a woman are thrown together for many months! They act together and then love or affection follows! The world terms it as an affair, then after the film is a flop, the relationship gets over! Just see, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor and also Deepika Padukone…they all are vulnerable! They were mad once. Katrina acted with Akshay in many movies!

They were crazy. Recently, she called Akshay as her Raakhi brother in one of Kapil’s shows. Then she clarified when the audience and Kapil raised eyebrows! But, it was all hogwash!

Ranbir has dated her during her fall out with Salman. She was head over heels in love with the Kapoor scion. She was dumped by him later when their movie ‘Tamasha’ flopped. Their tamasha also ended bitterly.

Ranbir was in a relationship with Deepika earlier. Deepika had earlier dated Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, also the fugitive Vijay Mallya’s son, Siddharth Mallya and later got into mental depression. Her Jodi with Ranveer Singh was a hit! Eventually, she married him. The chakkars are never-ending!!

S: The late Rishi Kapoor once said that he is not on talking terms with his son. He said that he married at the age of 28 years. He asked his son, he was 37 years old then, say a year ago or so, to get married to’ ‘Alia Bhatt’ at least!!

But, no go, he is still roaming around! The press says, he is serious this time. Neetu has also accepted her and she was seen at Rishi’s funeral also! But, post their movie which is under production ‘Brahmastra’s fate will tell all!! She is very serious, though!! We don’t know about Ranbir though!! This guy is non-committal in his relationships. His acting is very natural. He acts as if he is a born actor and a natural one at that! In ‘Sanju’ he played the junior Dutt’s role very effectively!

S: But, post his father’s sad demise, he may change altogether. He seems to be a changed person now. Domesticity, he will embrace. But, whether he will stay in a married bliss for a long time, only time will tell!

M: Is Ranbir superstitious?

J: Yes, he is!! He loves his mother’s birth number, which is 8. He thinks, mamma is his lucky charm! He is a ‘Mamma’s boy of course!  He tried it everywhere, but, it failed in his movie ‘Besharam’ becoming a celebrated flop! The number 8 did not work well this time. The funniest part is, his parents acted in the same movie!!

S: There is a lot to discuss about the stars’ superstitious habits and also the chakkars! But, the only time we get is here…..what to do..! Nice past time during this lockdown! I am hungry now…..Jeevan’s ‘Chivas’ stock, we are finishing! I am hungry now!!

M: Me too!! I am hungry as well!! I have a huge stock of ‘JW Black Label’ bottles, I will bring next time!

R: I have stock of ‘Black Dog’, Dimple Whisky, Teachers…. I will get them…. Bolo what u want?

S: Let’s have grub! Remaining superstitions of stars and their lafdas, we can continue next time! Why I should be left out, I will also bring ‘Black Dog, Ballantines, Jack Daniels Bourbon’…..The whole lockdown we can go ahead with this dinner meetings….later we will be very busy, of course….then like earlier times, we will only talk through SMSs and through ‘WhatsApp’ messages only!!

J: We were busy bees, now the virus has given us a huge holiday! Like, most of the others!! Let’s, eat now!! Cheers to Bollywood and their divine love chakkars!! Bottoms up, guys!! Empty it all in your stomachs!!

(All raised their glasses, emptied them and made their way towards the dinner table)

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