Meet the real star-makers

As a recent trend, celebrities have taken to social media to express their admiration for their crew.

Till recently, most of us were not familiar with the relationship between celebs and their team. That’s not the case anymore as many celebrities these days are posting photographs with their make-up artists, bodyguards, hairstylists, managers and so on. At the end of the day, they are the ones celebs spend most of their time with, so it’s only fair that they get their share of attention and respect.

Deepika Padukone’s bodyguard Jalal was in the limelight when the actress tied a rakhi on his wrist during Raksha Bandhan this year. Most recently, Virat Kohli posted a photo with his fashion designer Nandita Mahtani and captioned it, “Me — exhausted, nandita — liking my outfit created by her @nanditamahtani. Last day of work and I cannot wait to be done.” Virat also posted a photo with his hair stylist Apeni George. “Snip update. @apenigeorge has got all angles covered on this one. Great work bro. Love it,” he wrote.

Actress and model Rakul Preet Singh recently shared a photo of her bonding with her team and captioned it: “Lunch date with guess who!! My entire team.. Most imp ppl behind d scenes. Incomplete wdout them (sic).”

So, what relationship do celebs and their team share Rakul says, “They deserve all respect and attention because they make us what we are. I’m completely dependent on my team. I really cannot imagine a day without them. The team behind me has been the same since my first film; they are like family. We often bond during dinner and team outings. During the shooting of my recent film Nannaku Prematho, we all visited a museum in London; it was so much fun together. And I think the social media is helping them get their share of attention.”

Amitabh Bachchan’s make-up artist Deepak Sawant has been working with him for the past 41 years. “I have been working with Amitji since Zanjeer in 1973 up to his recent film Pink. Actors usually have a lot of ego problems with their team. People working below them are generally not respected much, but it depends on each actor. And things are changing because there are a lot of young people in the film industry. They all treat us well,” he says, adding, “From helping my brother who was admitted in the hospital and working in my movie, Leader for free to inviting us all to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at his home, Amitji has done it all.”

Says make-up artist Subhash Singh, “I have been in the in'dustry for 25 years. I have done make-up for Juhi Chawla, Priyanka Chopra, Tabu, Dimple Kapadia, and was with Katrina Kaif until last year. We always got respect and admiration from these stars, but we were never in the limelight. However, actors started expressing it before the world after Big B decided to do a small role in his make-up artist’s film for free. Now, stars don’t shy away from showing their love towards their crew members who work hard for them.”

Stylist Ami Patel feels that the trend has got to do with the time we are living in. “I have been styling Priyanka Chopra for six years now and I don’t remember posting a picture with her anywhere. A star has a huge fan following and when she tags me, automatically the world knows I’m the one behind her look. I guess it’s got a lot to do with social media.”

Whatever be the reason, the kind of love and respect these people get are an inspiration to many youngsters, who realise the value of appreciation through these little tweets and posts.

— With inputs from Aarti Bhanushali