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If ever I needed confirmation that the most powerful gods today are none other than our stars of the celluloid heaven, I got it on Wednesday night at a book release and art show preview in the capital. And I don’t just mean the omnipresent, newly-gaunt Shah Rukh Khan, who springs out at us from everywhere: hoardings, posters, bus stops and, of course, the little screen, pushing almost every product under the sun. Next he’ll be knocking at your door.

At the function, artist Paresh Maity was waiting, a hint of anxiety flitting across his normally smiling, serene face. On the podium, assembled and waiting, were Tourism Minister Ambika Soni and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the tirelessly enterprising Sunaina Anand whose gallery was behind the book — An Enchanting Journey. Paresh Maity’s Kerala — as well as an exhibition of the painter’s recent canvases done in God’s own country.

So who were they all waiting for? The answer came with the swarm of photographers and TV cameramen in hot pursuit of a petite figure one could not see over their heads. Once she reached the podium and sat down, a gasp emerged from a corner of the audience: “It’s Rani Muhkerjee!” At this point there were almost more journalists than guests, and the lady sitting in front of me remarked, “Everything now becomes a media event.”

I suppose the talented Ms Mukherjee’s raison d’ etre for being there that evening is the fact that she is a Bengali, as is Mr Maity. However, since this was about Kerala, you also had the marvelous actor Mamooty, the biggest star of the state. The stars, the politician and the bureaucrats together rose to light the lamp. All in silence; there was no public address — even the minister had to be speechless.

Nor did the film stars need to utter a word. This was a true, silent darshan of the celluloid deities, who soon melted away, leaving the rest to party and Maity to an endless round of interviews about his days and nights painting the natural beauty of Kerala. The rest of us had been ‘blessed’.

The worlds of contemporary art and Bollywood appear to be intersecting with greater frequency, usually to the benefit of the former. Take painter Anjana Kuthiala, former Miss India, whose portraits of Shah Rukh Khan catapulted her to fame and some fortune. She had only painted women until one day, inspired by the actor, she did his portrait a few years ago. She has not looked back since…and Page3 has not stopped looking out for her.

The stars have also begun to play the roles of artists off-screen. It is now commonplace for them to splash paint on canvas for charity auctions. MF Husain and Shah Rukh Khan (yes, him again) did a jugalbandi of sorts at the charity auction at Bonhams in London last June. The actor hesitantly added a few strokes at the end to a painting of Anarkali and Salim, inspired by a scene from Mughal-e-Azam. The hammer came down at £160,000 for co-production of instant art.

This was also the case at a charity auction organised by the NGO Khushi in Mumbai in 2006. This time Maity did a paint-along with two belle dames of the acting world: Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal.

Stars are getting to be like the proverbial camel in the tent: once you let them in, they take over. I bet you the photographs of Rani Mukherjee will dwarf all else. You might see a smiling Maity, but I doubt if any of his paintings will make it to Page 3.

When celluloid gods walk the earth, the rest of us don’t stand a chance. Come to think of it, even writers should beware — when Aamir Khan attended the Literary Fest in Jaipur last winter, he stole most of the limelight.

Email: jain_madhu@hotmail.com