Those were innocent times. Amitabh Bachchan sold sugarcane juice at stalls in the middle of congested markets. Rekha wooed prospective brides to the beauty parlour next door. The likes of Zeenat Aman and Parvin Babi rubbed their cheeks with passengers of auto rickshaws. Not to forget the posters of Vinod Khanna hung at the entrance of shops which proudly declared, “Bombay Tailors: Specialists in Ladies, Gents and Children”. Yes, those were really innocent times when the photos and paintings of these stars were used to attract fresh clients, new travellers. The stars did not seem to mind either. Not a single one asked to be paid even as they willy-nilly ended up as brand ambassador for a product they never endorsed!
It is more of the same today. Not all over Delhi, not in the large parts where Diet Coke and Red Bull are preferred as a street side refreshment. But in some slices of the city, like sundry settlements across Yamuna, a handful of resettlement areas, and those age-old shops in Paharganj and Chandni Chowk. Here, don’t be surprised if a beauty parlour with a little open drain at the entrance seeks to turn plain Janes into Priyanka Chopras and Madhuri Dixits. Or those fruit juice shops jutting out of little lanes in Nai Sarak calling attention with painted faces of Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan atop the shop’s board. Of course, auto rickshaws still sell Bollywood dreams on wheels. Now, instead of Bachchan or Babi, they have posters of Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar.
That is not all. Some day, walk down the streets in Lutyens’ Delhi. And you will find poster-sellers on the pavements with large posters of almost every film star. In the days gone by, they did brisk business with pictures of Sridevi, Jayaprada and Dimple Kapadia – only a handful made bold to keep the pictures of sensuous Mandakini and Kimi Katkar. Now, they are all about Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and some stray ones of Shah Rukh, Salman or Aamir Khan.
Done the rounds and had your fill of an eye feast? Head to the barber next door. He would still offer to trim your hair like Aamir of Ghajini . Or go to the tailor near the parking. On three sides of his sewing machine hang posters of Bipasha Basu, Vidya Balan even Rani Mukerji.
Really, in the nation’s Capital, Bollywood stars rule. Matter not a bit that the stars know it not!
