Abhishek Bachchan fires his publicist
One of the most loved men in the media, has decided to deal with journalists on his own
Mumbai: Abhishek Bachchan is having one of the most exciting years of his career with the release of ‘Happy New Year’- India’s biggest film so far, around the corner. The actor, who is rumoured to play a double role in the film, is currently travelling with the entire cast of Happy New Year to USA and Canada for live concerts.
Going by the pictures and videos we have been seeing of him on stage, he is surely having a blast. People who know him swear by the energy the man has for constantly entertaining people around him. Knowing Abhishek, he generally lets his work do the talking and doesn’t like to be seen in the media if his upcoming films are still underproduction.
‘Bol Bachchan’, a film that turned out to be a game changer for his career in 2012, got him all the deserved attention from the masses. It was before or around the film, Abhishek had hired a much-needed publicist to handle the increase inflow of queries from the media. A close friend of the actor revealed, “When it was needed, he hired one but the decision to move with this particular publicist didn’t turn out to be a fruitful one. After the film’s success, there was nothing about Abhishek except few routine interviews.”
Another representative who is an expert in brand building of celebrities said that after ‘Bol Bachchan’, it was the right time to activate all avenues to highlight Abhishek Bachchan’s performance, praises, and awards. “But the publicist seemed to be sleeping at that time.”
Abhishek Bachchan’s last release, ‘Dhoom 3’, the highest grosser of Indian Cinema saw him playing the accepted cop character of Jai Dixit for the third time. People walked out loving him every bit in the film but again, nothing much on him was out there in the media.
As for the media, they all know how accessible Abhishek Bachchan is, and like other stars, he too is quick to respond to messages. “But talking to the publicists always leads to some sort of a quarrel over petty things like ‘how dare they directly contact Abhishek’.”
So, very recently, many members from the media contacted the star via text complaining about the functioning of his publicist and revealing other incidents from the past. The actor wasn’t aware till he saw those messages and confided in his close friends to get the real version out. He was shocked to find out that most of concerns raised by the members of the media were true.
A friend of the actor confirmed on the condition of anonymity, “There were constant media complaints regarding the unprofessional conduct from the PR agency. Media queries for Abhishek Bachchan would often go unattended for days. All this added to a negative image of the actor in the media forum.”
Abhishek has now decided to discontinue his association with the agency.'Reports also suggest that another leading actor, who’s gearing up for his big action flick, is considering parting ways with this publicist in a months time.
A couple of months back, a top actress also separated from this publicist when it had circulated untrue stories of the actress to hype up a movie she was appearing in, to be in the good books of the producers involved.
As for Abhishek Bachchan, he has decided to make it absolutely easy for media people to get in touch with him directly for anything related to his work and films.