If it’s happening in the city, it’s happening here. From who’s dating who to starry tantrums, get the latest scoop in town
Malti Chahar
Chennai:
Not only WAGs, now sisters of sports stars are creating a stir cheering for their loved ones. Malti Chahar, a fellow Miss India contestant (the same batch as mine), made quite the impact at the recent IPL cheering for her brother Deepak Chahar. Her emotional reactions and enthusiastic cheers for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have captured the imagination of cricket fans all over the country. What followed was a social media frenzy to figure out who she was and that has resulted in over two lakh followers. There were posts with Thala Dhoni and videos of her dancing with DJ Bravo and people had found their IPL girl.
“This IPL season was absolutely amazing because both my brothers got picked for teams and Deepak got a chance to play for CSK. He performed well and CSK won the trophy — it was an added bonus that people enjoyed me cheering the team from the stands,” she says. It comes as no surprise as Malti was judged Miss Photogenic during our batch. She was that girl who didn’t have a bad camera angle. She has worked on several advertisements over the years but she is enjoying the sudden interest from brands in Chennai.
“The kind of love I have received from fans during and after IPL is overwhelming. I feel like south Indians are so warm and welcoming. Earlier, I wasn’t keen on acting in south films, but I have changed my mind. I am keen to act in Tamil films and web series as there are so many interesting opportunities. I have already signed one project and I am in talks for others,” she tells me. Malti aspires to work with Gautham Menon and Rajamouli and is hoping to be Suriya’s or Prabhas’ leading lady.
Well, if IPL was her litmus test we know she is going to pass with flying colours. I can’t wait to see this gorgeous face on screen soon. Maybe in a cricket movie? Will wait and watch.
‘Drop your pants to earn fame in fashion industry’
As Chennaiites, we take offense when someone questions the local fashion industry but it’s hard to eternally ignore what is happening. The industry is drowning in a sea of imposters and their scams. There is one such trio who have formed an alliance of sorts — one is a salon manager on OMR, another who we shall refer to as M and finally K, who has a full-time job at Indian Logistics but violates his contract there to run a side business. They had been called out for their malpractices earlier; they had even been trashed for making unwanted advances and taking liberty with aspiring models. However, when misery finds company, it seldom fails to stay silent.
Their gamut of scams includes playing double agent — while they charge clients heftily to arrange fashion shows, they also fleece aspiring models, dangling the opportunity of walking the ramp in front of them. Thereby, they get away with huge profits. My only thought is why aren’t upcoming models doing their homework to see if organisers are legitimate or not?
Upon verification it was further revealed that these mischief-makers steal videos from shows originally choreographed by Sunil Menon, Karun Raman or Priya Manikandan, and edit it to look like it was their event! These fraudulent clips are then sent to the models, tricking them into believing the work they’re doing is authentic.
The salon manager, I’m told, brainwashes clients by promising them a career in modelling; “I will make you a star,” is what he reportedly tells them. He proceeds to take large sums of money towards creating a portfolio for them and in the meantime, I hear, has tried to shoot compromising clips of the person changing clothes. K, on the other hand, is rumoured to have told many upcoming male models, “Drop your pants if you want to be someone in this industry.”
I have seen coverage of their shady events by reputed media companies in TV channels, newspapers and magazines. This is what makes them seem legitimate to naïve models — I hope we can put an end to this. All you youngsters out there, who want to get into modelling, take the time to reach out to renowned industry professionals; we will make the time to help you. Maybe it’s about time we formed an alliance in Chennai to weed out such scamsters and protect models.