Newbies in Bollywood now tweet their way to success

On a busy Monday morning 23-year-old Rohan Mehra  makes some quick calls and  his diary is crammed with meetings.
Later, he calls his grooming guru, stylist and speech therapist for advice on etiquette, clothes and diction respectively. Mehra then glances at his laptop and cellphone one last time to ensure that he hasn’t missed anything. That done, he is all set to face the world as a struggling Bollywood actor.

The likes of Mehra are defying the stereotype of the exploited and hard up wannabe. “The profile of the struggler in Bollywood has changed. Youngsters these days are  socially and economically empowered,” says veteran actor and filmmaker, Dev Anand, who left his hometown in the early 1940s to try his luck in the Hindi film industry.

Bollywood is full of stories of strugglers roughing it out for years before getting that elusive break. “Most of us came from lower middle-class families and had to slog,” says Jeetendra, who helped his family with the imitation jewellery business before being spotted by V Shantaram and cast in a minuscule role in Navrang in 1959.

However, the slow climb to the top is no longer as arduous. Industry watchers attribute the change to the evolving social scenario and the boom in related industries such as film training institutes, grooming schools and casting agencies.

 “Today the Hindi film industry and its new entrants are competing with other global players. Our talent is respected. Actors and technicians are hired for world class projects all across the world, including Hollywood,” says director Subhash Ghai, who runs a film school in the city.  Starry-eyed wannabes are also exploiting technology and the social networking scene in Mumbai to reach their goals.

“Online forums and film clubs are a great way to meet like-minded people,” says aspiring actress, Jahnavi Dave, who moved to Mumbai from Ahmedabad recently. Dave belongs to Filmwallahs, a support group for newbies in Bollywood. Set up by radio jockey-turned-filmmaker, Anirudh Chawla, the group provides guidance, support and job opportunities to upcoming actors, filmmakers and technicians.

 “There was no organised forum from where one could pick artistes or technicians. So, I opened a Facebook group inviting Bollywood aspirants to sign up,” says Chawla who claims that his club has attracted more than 2,000 members since it started last year.