Confessions of a Bollywood Agent

“Once a guy bluntly asked me if I have any clients who are willing to ‘entertain’ foreign guests”

I used to be in public relations but have switched to managing actors. My clients are mostly television actresses. There are also some who have acted in feature films in the south. All of them have or can have a good career in television, but the allure of the Hindi film industry is bewitching.

Let me explain why an actress needs an agent in this industry. Besides pulling in business, the agent is also a filter to keep shady characters out. Once a guy bluntly asked me if I have any clients who are willing to ‘entertain’ foreign guests. The term ‘vanity man’  refers to an actor/producer who asks co-stars to come to his vanity van. 

Another time, I got a call from a man who said he was planning a big-budget Hindi movie with the son of a Telugu mega star. When we went to meet him, his office turned out to be a seedy cubicle. He had no idea who he would cast and how he would make the film. He was either living a dream or was a racketeer. Bollywood is full of such people.

There are now large professional agencies (Mahesh Bhupathi has one) managing top-rung celebrities. They can actually dictate terms while negotiating. Start-ups like me have a tough time. Once I got a genuine interest from Karan Johar’s office for a client. We  went there and gave a screen test. Some weeks later, there was a call from them again.  We were very excited. Then we discovered they had forgotten that they had called her earlier.

There are different contracts that agents have with their clients. In one such, I get a percentage of everything that the actor earns, even if someone approaches him/her directly, and not through me. A contract like this often leads to conflict if the actor hits big time. Priyanka Chopra had one like that, but when the crores started coming in without an intermediary to arrange it, she reneged on it. And thus, you saw the many reports of her agent Prakash Jaju’s acrimony against her.

(This agent has been in the field for a year)

As told to Madhavankutty Pillai

About The Author

arindam