Touchwood!

Superstitions, good-luck charms, astrological consultations, personal mascots et al have starring roles to play in the lives of stars as insecurities mount and the box-office gets fickle-minded

Although considered larger-than-life, film personalities are perhaps more prone to insecurities than you and I. After all, they’re involved in a high-risk profession: stardom can vanish as suddenly as it’s acquired. Quite naturally, then, Bollywood’s leading lights are becoming increasingly superstitious, and won’t take a single step before ensuring it will be propitious.

Of late, more godmen — call them gurus or soothsayers — are being consulted by stars to not only find out about which projects they should accept or reject, but also inquire about health issues. One of the most popular showbiz soothsayers is regularly flown in from Varanasi for consultations and advice.

Practically every Bollywood home and office is governed by the doctrines of the ancient science of Vaastu Shashtra, even if that has meant restructuring rooms from scratch. On another level altogether, every film’s producer and stars seek blessings at various places of worship — ranging from Tirupati to Mumbai’s Haji Ali dargah and the Ajmer Sharif dargah. Indeed, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Govinda, Priyanka Chopra, Himesh Reshammiya and Kat-rina Kaif had separately visited Ajmer Sharif, only to be mobbed.

A positive result has been the escalating trend to believe in all faiths, leading to the identification of Bollywood with secularism; no film celebrity dares to question the tenets of any faith, since that would subtract his or her fan base.

Quite correctly, Akshay Kumar had threatened to walk out of a film — dealing with espionage — if his lines weren’t revised since they seemed to be targeted against a particular community.

Secularism is a significant quality about Bollywood. And so are superstitions, fears and anxieties. Everyone has a lucky mascot — be it a pet dog, chauffeur or a hairstylist. And there’s a uniform adherence to different gems, colours and charms to bring about the elusive factor called luck.

There can be unshakeable convictions as well. Amitabh Bachchan does not watch live telecasts of cricket matches because he’s convinced that whenever he does so, India loses. Instead, he has made it a custom to watch the repeat telecast of a match, hours after its over.

Besides private consultations, numerologists have begun to dispense their judgement in media columns about the spelling of star names as well as film titles. Of late, a young numerologist-cum-astrologer has started reviewing films on various platforms — be it print, radio or television. As it happens, practically every review is flattering, which is why he is quoted prominently in newspaper advertisements. Smart move that. Because his stock in the showbiz-plus-numerology markets has skyrocketed.

Ritesh Deshmukh altered his first name to Riteish, Jimmy Shergill changed his surname to Sheirgill, Sunil Shetty became Suniel and then Suneil. The spelling alterations haven’t helped their careers drastically — not yet anyway,

Ekta Kapoor — who one fine day dropped her fixation for the letter ‘K’ — may have eased up a bit. But at her strictly-guarded office, a street dog called Rani serves as her production banner’s mascot. A security guard can disallow entry to Rani only at the risk of losing his job. Incidentally, Ekta’s father Ravindra Kapoor chose the screen name Jeetendra way back in the 1960s because he was told it was lucky. That worked. His son Tusshar Kapoor was told to call himself just Tusshar, no need for the family name here. That hasn’t worked.

Rakesh Roshan sticks to his fixation for movie titles beginning with the letter ‘K’, from Khudgarz to the under-production Krissh 3. Karan Johar continued to be K-obsessive too, till he sought to take a risk with My Name Is Khan.

Akshay Kumar will never write 
anything on a page unless he first heads it with an ‘Om’. Preity Zinta believes that whenever she stumbles on the sets of 
the movie, it becomes a box office bon-anza. Kunal Kapoor leaves a bit of food on his plate after finishing his meal. Dia Mirza will not cut her nails in the night if she has to report for a shoot the next day — not that she’s shooting many films nowadays.

A strict believer in the most ancient of superstitions, Riya Sen will not walk under a ladder. Mithun Chakraborty insists on living in the hilltown Ooty and not Mumbai, on the say-so of his astrologer. Ajay Devgn seeks divine blessings before starting anything, be it buying a car or starting a new film. Kajol wears an armlet and Salman Khan is never seen without a blue stone bracelet like his father Salim Khan’s.

Amitabh Bachchan’s fingers are crowded with chunky rings. Gulzar collects as many Buddha heads as he can because they transmit a feeling of tranquility when he is writing poetry.

Without exception, every film person will have a locket or thread to ward of the evil eye. The B-town biggies may be invincible to their viewers — but when a black cat crosses their path, they won’t work for the day. Which all goes to show that they are as — if not more — superstitious than us mere mortals.

Numbers Game

In more superstitious beliefs surrounding numbers, Kareena Kapoor considers 3 her lucky number, while Saif Ali Khan sticks to 7. Shah Rukh Khan has 555 on all his car number plates, and Sanjay Dutt insists that all his car registration numbers add up to 9