Hello everyone!
It’s been a while.
Happy New Year!
So let’s start the new year with something old. A couple of old blind items that we have never shared before written by Bollywood’s famous blind item writer. This edition was featured in GQ magazine back then in 2010.
Drop in your guesses below. To make the blind items easier to read and guess, we have labelled them separately to avoid confusion.
Bollywood Blind Items – Retro Edition
#1
He’s everyone’s favourite screen-dad; a versatile character actor who cut his teeth playing a variety of quirky supporting roles in his youth. But now he’s the go-to guy for filmmakers wanting to cast a respectable-looking elderly chap as the hero or heroine’s dad. His bald pate, broad smile and mischievous eyes make him look like the perfect supportive paternal figure that encourages his lovesick son to go after his sweetheart, even if it means having to crash her wedding. Only Bollywood insider know that behind those gentle, avuncular looks lurks one of the industry’s biggest sleazebags.
Costume designers, assistant directors and make-up women have all been at the receiving end of his leering looks. His MO is simple. He gives the lay a once-over the moment she’s stepped into the room. And then a volley of personal questions follow. Coming from a famous actor, that’s a lot of attention for female crew members, who are usually invisible on a film set. Enough for many of them to be easily seduced.
#2
Married for several years and hiding behind the carefully cultivated image of a family man, the actor is known to woo his ladies with bouquets, sudden appearances at their doorstep with charming requests for a home-made breakfast, and romantic messages on their answering machine. It isn’t uncommon for him to be “dating” two or three women at a time, and his accomplice is his equally sleazy secretary, entrusted with the prickly job of breaking up with the ladies who get too attached.
#3
It’s not just the older actors on the periphery; the younger mainstream stars can be just as grotty. Take the case of the Eighties leading man who’s been going strong for over three decades, and has only slowed down now that his own sprog has stepped into the limelight. He’s considered the most hardworking star of his time, an actor who reinvented himself every few years when a newer, younger breed was preparing to take over. Women complain he only talks to their chest. Or leans in so close you can smell what he’s had for lunch. “Every time I worked with him, I felt like I needed to take a bath afterwards. He ran his eyes all over me,” says one B-level heroine. And this star has the image of being one of Bollywood’s most committed family men.
#4
An incredible rumour circles around one of the industry’s most creative brains. One half of a power couple, he’s known to proposition women less than half his age, insinuating that he’s already had his “operation”. He then reassures them that he won’t leave them with any uncomfortable, pregnant reminders of their rendezvous.
#5
No one discusses the peccadilloes of these wolves, because they’ve carefully cultivated their harmless images. They stick close to their wives, declaring undying love in interviews and making dozens of devoted appearances together. But Bollywood insiders snigger about an ex-superstar, a respectable grandfather. Just a couple of decades ago, he stumbled around drunk in a hotel corridor, late one night. Banging on the door of his heroine, who was nearly 30 years younger, he demanded she allow him in. It was left to the siren’s photographer boyfriend to call the director and insist he ask the star to back off. Not so long ago, at a success party, journalists caught the same actor running his fingers along the arms of one up-and-coming heroine while ostensibly greeting his “guest”. No one protests. No one dares.
What is it about these aging Lotharios that allows them to act so brazenly? “They know there’s no chance of anyone spilling the beans,” reveals a starlet. “The industry just accepts it. Women learn to keep an arm’s length from them and to not give the slightest encouragement.” The worst part? They cover their tracks so well, even their wives have no clue, forget the audiences.
#6
A beefy one-time action star attends every one of his son’s cricket matches and is by his wife’s side during her charity events. Don’t get taken in by that, though. The actor comes on strong to any woman he meets, complimenting her “beautiful smile”. One naïve assistant director made the mistake of taking his midnight call when he insisted he couldn’t sleep. Halfway through the friendly banter, he asked, “So, what are you wearing? Must be baby-doll pajamas.” Horrified, she hung up.
So the film industry is like any other. Men cheat. There are married stars who are incorrigible philanderers – yet, they’re picky with their flings; they make a play for women in their own league. The sleazebag variety, though, will hit on any woman who walks by, not even waiting for a flicker of interest from her. What’s the worst that could happen? She won’t respond, but there’s no way she’ll raise a stink. No problem; there are many fish in the Bollywood pond.
OSOP Guesses
#1
Anupam Kher
#2
Ajay Devgan
#3
Anil Kapoor
#4
Aamir Khan
#5
Amitabh Bachchan
Kimi Katkar
#6
Sunil Shetty
