Celeb vs Star, writes Sajid Khan

Batman vs Superman, Alien vs Predator,  Freddy vs Jason… famous Hollywood franchise movies. We all know what Superman could do to Batman, whether the alien won the battle with the predator or who was more evil, Freddy or Jason. What we don’t know is the difference between a celeb and a star. Nahin samjhe? Samjhataa hoon, samjhataa hoon.

A celebrity is a product manufactured by the media and PR for the people to acknowledge. Whereas a star is made by the people and acknowledged by the media and PR brigade. A celebrity mostly will not want to stand in line, will try to move ahead with the confidence that the person at the gate will recognise him/her as a celebrity. 

A star would never do that. A star would stand in line knowing that he won’t be there for long as the person at the gate will recognise him and automatically ask him to come ahead. Or, in other cases, a star would use a separate entrance. 

A celebrity attracts huge crowds at a mall, but not at that mall’s multiplex. A star attracts the same crowd to buy tickets for his movie in the same mall’s multiplex. A celebrity has to (most of the time) pay to get in the newspapers. A star is chased for news. A celebrity does promotions. A star does marketing. So, how would you know the difference between a celebrity and a star?

It is the simplest formula. The game of numbers. Numbers which matter (read: money). Why is it when Sachin played or when Dhoni or Virat play, stadiums are filled up? Because they are stars who compel you to pay top dollar to watch them. Even if it’s just a channel subscription. 

There are many celebs on social media with huge numbers of followers. But when it comes to box-office, these numbers fail to convert. Every time. 

A celeb takes a fee. A star gives one. A celeb is always a distraction. A star is the attraction. Since there are only a handful of stars, the media to churn its wheels has to make do with celebs 24/7. 

So the common man gets confused between a star and a celebrity. But not so confused when he has to pay to watch them. And that is what makes the difference. Just remember a celeb wants to be seen by you. A star is someone you want to see.

There are a handful of film stars, filmmakers, sportsmen and TV stars. They don’t necessarily hit it out on the review-based system. But even in a bad state of affairs, their box -office numbers are always higher than those of celebrities. Aap kiske fan ho?