Stars Secretaries Need Good PR Skills

You have to be the soothing balm, says Bhaskar Shetty Bhaskar Shetty, who has been secretary to Anupam Kher, John Abraham and others.

How did you join the film world?

I come from a very middle-class family and worked in the hospitality industry abroad before I came to India for a holiday and got an offer from a friend to work as production executive in the movie Vishnu Deva. More movies followed and along the way I started looking after Urmila Matondkar, followed by Anupam Kher - we have been together for 19 years - Mahima Chaudhary, Celina Jaitley, Suniel Shetty, Manoj Bajpai, Rajpal Yadav, Lara Dutta, John Abraham, Rituparna Sengupta.

How was it managing someone like, say, John Abraham? How do you take care of star tantrums and nakhras?

Very easy. He is a very normal person. During our association, he came across as a very good soul and very human, someone who loved his family a lot. I have been very lucky to work with people who do not throw tantrums. They were good with me and good with others too. When I feel someone is not doing something right I have spoken to them and they have listened.

Please tell us something about the work you do?

It's more of PR work and I was lucky because I had a background in hospitality as it teaches you the language you need to learn in this industry for communicating with the producers and directors. A secretary has to ensure that the actor gets along amicably with the producer and director and they get along in tandem with each other.

He has to ensure the actor's work gets over on time and does not get held up or delayed by the actor. Do not give any scope to your employer to be misunderstood or misunderstand you. One has to ensure the actor is treated in a nice, human way. At times, they are pressured by the work overload, timings, the environment, the climate. When they are hurt you apply the balm, soothe their feelings. One should be like a father figure or like a big brother to an actor.

Author: Ayesha Banerjee (HT Horizons)

Date: 28th December, 2010

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