In the last one month alone, there has been an unprecedented influx of Pakistani celebrities in the UAE. Last month, Saqib Malik and the cast of Baaji received a warm welcome when they came to promote their film in Dubai. A few weeks later, the star cast of Superstar and Parey Hut Love came to Dubai and they accommodated multiple meet and greet sessions and PR activities around the city. Next week, Hareem Farooq, Ali Rehman Khan and others from Heer Maan Ja are due to arrive in the city as part of their promotional tours. It’s a great time to witness the continuing growth of contemporary Pakistani cinema abroad.
It is also worth mentioning here that during the last two months, no Bollywood film’s press meet has taken place in the UAE, which has helped our stars get a lot of press coverage. This is evident from the fact that all the leading papers like Khaleej Times, Gulf News, Masala! and Filmfare ME are always interested and present to cover Pakistani content. As a Pakistani writer based in the UAE, I have been privy to these junkets, often even moderating them, and keeping that in mind, I feel I would like to suggest ways to maximize the impact and impression our stars make on foreign media.
Don’t: Be ‘fashionably’ late
At a watch launch held in Dubai, Aishwarya Rai while talking exclusively to Instep and Something Haute confessed that “there is no such thing as being fashionably late and stars must plan their meetings in a way that the media feels respected.” That’s something our starry troupes need to take very seriously. The team of Superstar arrived to their press conference in Dubai three hours late, with the leading lady joining in even later. She said that she had a bit of a dress malfunction and then the “Dubai traffic”. It has become quite a cliche to blame Dubai’s traffic for being late. And I have seen some of our stars blame the traffic even when they were staying in the same hotel where the press junket was being held. Guys, if the media can make it on time so can you.
I recall a comment the late Om Puri made during a press con held for Actor in Law in Dubai; that press conference also started few hours late but Om Puri was there on time. The moment film’s leading lady arrived, he said by pointing at her, “In mohtarma ka joota match nahi ho raha tha so we got late by 2 hours, us ke liye I apologize.” (This lady’s shoe was not matching, which is why we got two hours late.) Punctuality is more than just an admirable trait; it’s just the right thing to do and just shows respect for the people, in this case the media, who wait hours on end to get their work done.
Don’t: Bring your phone to the press conference
Everyone wants to create Instagram content, usually for fans and followers, and there’s nothing wrong with that though there has to be a place and purpose to everything. I remember at the last Masala! Awards in Dubai, which was attended by the likes of Kareena Kapoor, Ayesha Omar, Amna Ilyas, Sheheryar Munawar and many more from Pakistan, some of the stars asked the ushers to click ‘candid’ shots from their phones. There’s no doubt that the Red Carpet is a star’s moment to shine but they should enjoy interacting with the media instead of worrying about getting the perfect shot for Instagram. Someone on their team should be doing that silently, consistently.
Superstar Mahira Khan herself, on record, has confessed that she checks her phone “innumerable times during a minute” but she ensures that she doesn’t touch it when she is addressing the media. But not everyone is like her. At Baaji’s media junket, Saqib Malik had to request the diva multiple times to put her phone down as she had gone live during the event and was constantly changing her face angles while talking to the host. Even the rest of the main cast was holding each other’s phones while they were addressing the media.
During the recently held press conference of Parey Hut Love, one of the lead actors just couldn’t put his phone down. I understand that today’s stars deal with the pressure of sharing details on social media and keeping fans updated but this comes across as a huge distraction (and borderline offensive when someone is talking to you) and it would be appreciated if this task is given to the PR managers instead of stars doing it themselves.
Do: Spend a few days in Dubai as the audience is huge
The Dubai trip was once run like an errand; stars tried to cover this region during a layover or while they were in-transit to a bigger market. What filmmakers have now realized is that UAE is a huge market and the competition here is not only with the Hollywood or Indian films but the diverse genre of films (like regional films) that release every week. UAE has a lot more options for entertainment, where a potential movie goer makes a choice every weekend between dining out, watching a film or going to a night-club. Stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, whose films mint money at the box office, spend a minimum of two days shuttling between Malls to Clubs, flying between Dubai and Abu Dhabi on choppers.
It’s great to know that Pakistani filmmakers are also now spending millions on international promotions; the teams of Superstar and Parey Hut Love spent a few days in the UAE and attended multiple PR events, which is a great way to steer the agenda of promoting a film in the UAE.
Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai based entertainment writer and is also the Instep correspondent in the UAE.
