Talking Shop: Star-struck and obsessed

“The idea of stardom was

difficult to grasp. It was like

being schizophrenic. There

was her, the woman on TV,

and then here the real me.”

― Jessica Savitch

Love and passion are strong emotions, as is celebrity worship. Sure, these sentiments can provide a high and a sense of invincibility, but in extremes, they can be very unhealthy, even downright dangerous—for the line between attraction and obsession is a thin one. It is one thing to celebrate, even revere those who achieve stardom and success, but when that fascination borders on mania, it can have noxious repercussions.

I have personally witnessed this a few times and read about these many a-time more. Let’s revisit, for instance, what transpired when I ‘inaugurated’ the Pathan brothers, Irfan and Yusuf (then playing members of the Indian cricket team), as brand ambassadors of a Tata Group company I worked for. As part of the ‘surprise unveil strategy’, we positioned the two brothers on a camouflaged swivel table behind the curtains at a press conference in Delhi.

Soon, the grand moment arrived, the strobe lights came on, reverberating drum music hit a crescendo and the swivel turned, revealing the beaming brothers in their blue Indian jerseys. All hell broke loose. Within seconds of the unexpected surprise, the over 100-odd journalists stormed the dais, with the two stunned cricketers scurrying for cover. And they had reason to worry, for the only thing standing between them and the fanatical, frenzied journalists and photographers was wiry me, arms outstretched and shouting myself hoarse at my ‘friends’ in the media to maintain their distance. The madness lasted all of five minutes, but to me that day, it felt like hours. Whew!

Then it happened again

I am a sucker for punishment and don’t learn from my mistakes, it would appear. Not having learnt my ‘Pathan lesson’, I had Bollywood actress Kajol inaugurate a retail store for the same Tata company in Delhi’s bustling Connaught Circus. The result was the same as witnessed months earlier with the cricketing brothers. As soon as the media caught sight of the actress in the less than massive store, they blocked the exit and started storming towards her. This time, we had over a dozen bodyguards for protection, all dressed in black, but that did not prevent the determined mediapersons from advancing towards the actress, insisting they had to ‘touch her’ and ‘shake her hand’.

It took some vicious verbal outrage and a lot of concerted pushing and heaving to save the day and get the educated and enlightened journalists to back off and out of the store, which is what Kajol did too as quickly as she could. Outside, word of the actress’ presence had leaked and there was a crowd of over a 1,000 hysterical fans preventing her from reaching her car. And since she was there at my request and, therefore, my responsibility, I sweated, pushed, begged, swore at the crowd and cursed myself till she was finally whisked back to her hotel. Luckily for me, Singham Ajay Devgn was not there.

These two incidents made me realize just what adulation can look like when it crosses the line and turns into sinister obsession. It dawned on me that celebrity worship, at its heart, seems to fill something in a person’s life, things that were missing. It gives them a sense of identity, a sense of self, and feeds a psychological hunger; but driven to extremes, it can be unhealthy, even lethal.

Other mad, crazy fans

There are numerous other instances worldwide and let me quickly take you through some feral ones, incidents that drive home what manic obsession can bring out in fans and put celebrities through. After India’s back-to-back defeats in the 2021 T20 Cricket World Cup, a 23-year-old techie from Hyderabad was arrested after he allegedly threatened to rape the 10-month-old daughter of star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. While the entire Indian team faced a deluge of online abuse after losing, it was Kohli who bore the brunt of the vitriol. Screenshots of the threat went viral and the perpetrator changed his name on Twitter to pose as a resident of Pakistan. An Indian fact-checking website later identified him as Indian and he was picked up soon after.

Things can also get vicious, as tennis sensation Monica Seles, the youngest-ever French Open champion at the age of 16 years, found out on the court itself. Seles, who went on to win eight Grand Slam singles titles before her 20th birthday and was the world’s #1 tennis player in 1991 and 1992, became the victim of an on-court stabbing in 1993, something that changed her career graph. While playing a match against Magdalena Maleeva, an obsessed fan of Seles’ arch rival Steffi Graf stabbed Seles in the back with a 9-inch-long knife as she was sitting down between games. Seles did not return to tennis for over two years after the stabbing, and though she enjoyed some success after returning to the court in 1995, she was unable to be consistent or produce her erstwhile genius-level tennis. So much for fans!

Entertainers suffer too

In June 2014, a man who thought he was married to actress Sandra Bullock broke into her home. Bullock woke up to every woman’s worst nightmare when she discovered an intruder in her home—she barely escaped harm by hiding in a closet and calling the police, who were quick to respond and apprehend the suspect, who faced 19 felony charges in relation to this incident alone. Want things even more bizarre? When English singing sensation Jessie J broke her leg in 2012 and cancelled a few tours due to the injury, she received a text message from an overly attached fan. The message included a photo of the fan with a broken leg and a message stating she had done it deliberately to be just like her idol. Woah!

Celebrity worship syndrome has been described as “an obsessive-addictive disorder where an individual becomes excessively involved and interested (read ‘completely obsessed’) with every detail of the personal life of a celebrity”. Younger people, still establishing their identities, are more susceptible to celebrity obsession, according to psychologists. It is one thing to respect or love a certain celebrity, but people definitely should not obsess over them, for that creates unreal expectations of a perfect person, catalyzes lower self-esteem and stokes assumptions that celebrities are flawless people.

Well, to conclude, some celebrities are indeed close to flawlessness, like Hollywood superstar Matt Damon, who said: “Eventually, stardom is going to go away from me. It goes away from everybody; all you have in the end is to be able to look back and like the choices you made.” That’s humility indeed, clear thinking and a very down-to-Earth attitude. I wish we had more who think the same way. Hey, am I obsessed with Matt?! Time and his future well-being shall be a witness to that.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal