ExpertDabbler

I was reading Po Bronson’s book and there was this story about an ex-model which made me think. This story is about an ex-model who successfully reinvents herself as a recruiter. This is a classic one-in-a million case. What about the rest?

Consider this scenario. There is a sweet, college going girl, all of 18 years of age. She takes to modeling as a hobby. Suddenly something clicks. She is transformed into a super model or a popular actress overnight. Before she could realize, she is a VIP mingling with millionaires. She is globetrotting while her friends go through the boring classes, struggling for an increase in their pocket money.

Years roll by. Those who complete their studies either get married or get into a nice job or both. Whatever they do, they hold a small place in the society and lead a normal life. They have a home, a family, a partner, children perhaps.

Consider our heroine on the other hand. Stardom is thrust down her throat. Every minute of hers brings millions. Every action of hers is scrutinized.

Years roll by. Younger, hotter models come into the arena. She is no longer the hottest in the circuit. She is getting older and her looks are fading ever so slowly but surely. Now what does she do? Lesser and lesser newspapers mention her. At one point she is thrown away from the media glare. She is not even old enough to be called middle age. All those years of stardom also means she is alienated from her own friends and family.

Alternatives… That is not an easy word for those who’d seen the glamour of filmdom and fashion. What do these people do when the fade from the limelight? What can they do? What do they know? Can a model learn programming and try to be a programmer or designer or a marketing professional? Can she go back to college? Is that all possible in India? It’s like you find yourself struggling to even be a beginner in some field where your classmates are middle level managers.

This is especially relevant in India.

She is desperate to lead the one life she is denied – a normal peaceful life.

Once they realize they have nowhere to go and survive, they need to sustain a kind of aura about them to have a fighting chance of making a comeback into the only world they know - fashion and films. For that they again need to make any sort of compromises.

So before they realize they are in a Catch 22 situation.

If I find myself in such a situation, what would I do? I guess I would try and find someone rich enough and try to stick around him for as long as possible.

And that’s what these people do too, isn’t it?

Lucky are those who hang on and end up doing mother roles in the industry. For every Kushboo or Simran or Ramya Krishnan, there are 100s of lesser known people who have just vanished from the scene.

Some who come to my mind are

Rekha - kadalora kavidhaigal
Sangeetha
Kousalya

The list goes on.…

My heart goes out to them.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2006 at 11:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.