By Hindustan Times
Four racy videos and several other risqué images later Poonam Pandey has arrived as a brand to reckon with. Not yet a graduate, unabashed about her type of marketing herself, Poonam Pandey is oh so visible. Jack Dorsey has made it impossible for us to disregard this firecracker. At 21, this self-confessed "new generation" girl has got your attention where information overload is a reality. You've an opinion on her, right? That suggests you've devoted mind space to this petite 5 feet 7 inches tall frame. You'll hate her, love her but can't not find out about her existence.
I think she has carved the proverbial niche in a cacophonous space where such a lot of models are willing to shed inhibitions along side their clothes. Is she India's answer to Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton? Sure, she too is legendary for being famous. She evokes extreme reactions, most viewing her as a disparaging exhibit of female form or a belittling of feminist issues. But hasn't she subverted the patriarchal rules through the use of objectification of girls to her advantage?
Her business acumen is intense. She employs a team of ten, headed by Vipin Medhekar who's her business strategist. Has Poonam managed to crack the code of social media marketing? Err...What is she selling again? She is the product. Search for her Twitter profile and eventually count her following had reached 143,845!
"Pandey’s name is featured within the top 10 of the Google Zeitgeist 2011 list of fastest rising celebrities in India, alongside Katrina Kaif and Anna Hazare. Digital media company Pinstorm scores her online influence at 70.2, which rates just outside the 30 most influential Indians online, behind Priyanka Chopra but prior to Lara Dutta and Genelia D’Souza," reports Tehelka magazine.
So, how much do you're thinking that she makes in a month? Stay up for it... approximately 50 lakh a month! So, how does she mint this moolah? I pose this question to Medhekar and he tells me that the largest chunk comes from Voice Chats that mobile service providers anchor. He hints that Poonam gets paid a lot more than many celebrities for her voice chats. Then there's events she attends and tweets that she posts. It all in a single way or another is filling her coffers.
She has also signed a Bollywood film, details of as a way to be made public only after April 20. Medhekar avers that she has rejected several film offers till date.
I thought it best to succeed in Poonam Pandey to know this 'open book' and maybe decipher how a tender girl who wears sexuality on her sleeve make it large. Spoke to her on phone when she was in Chennai for an assignment recently. Excerpts from the chat:
Hindustan Times: You've just turned 21. From being a Kingfisher model to featuring in Tehelka magazine let us know a little about your journey.
Poonam Pandey: I MIGHT compare my journey to a Bollywood story as it all happened unexpectedly. I never expected any of this. But I DIDN'T ever ask for all this, I never sat and prayed to God urging God to bestow all this on me. God have been kind to me. My journey started with Gladrags in 2010. That was the primary platform where I wore a bikini. It was like a large thing. After which abruptly I jumped into Kingfisher. After which the arena Cup came (she laughs at this point). All of it happened very fast.
Hindustan Times: We read stories about how models confess that they have been propositioned and the way it's unsafe for young models? Have you received indecent proposals?
Poonam Pandey: People who I'm working with...I have a large team and i've never faced something like this. I've never been asked to do something I'm uncomfortable with. I'm comfortable because people know me to be bold. Ten years ago India was very different. I ACTUALLY feel it is a new generation. I'M a brand new generation girl. I'm happy that it is all changing. For me it doesn't feel something really big.
Hindustan Times: An Open magazine April 16, 2011 write up says about you what's: Poonam Pandey? Is it a promise? Is it a hashtag? Is it a pithy way of claiming ‘fooled ya’ to the media? So who's the actual Poonam Pandey?
Poonam Pandey: (After a pause) In the event you inquire from me who Poonam Pandey is, then I MIGHT say whatever it's that you simply see of me and skim about me, is me. People love me because I'M REALLY NOT fake. I'M who I'M. The way in which I'M while chatting with you, that is me.
Hindustan Times: What happened in Kolkata?
Poonam Pandey: Certainly one of my fans morphed clone of( Sachin Tendulkar's) and after I saw that image for the primary time I USED TO BE very upset. Many of us crosschecked with me. I USED TO BE caught unawares. It became this type of big issue. The entire thing was not intentional at all.
Hindustan Times: You've gifted a saucy picture to Virat Kohli recently. Do you ever hear back from these cricketers?
Poonam Pandey: Thus far I HAVE NOT heard back from anyone. It is going to be a dream realized if I AM GETTING a reaction.
Hindustan Times: Are you a significant cricket fan?
Poonam Pandey: Yeah after all (sounds surprised) I play cricket. I still play cricket after I visit my mum's place, with the society friends...whenever I LOCATE time I'M GOING there and revel in the sport. I DO NOT bowl so well, I WILL bat really well though.
Hindustan Times: You regularly quote philosophers, do you read a lot?
Poonam Pandey: I DO NOT plan my tweets I'M very spontaneous. It's like how some other person would tweet.
Hindustan Times: Are you a graduate?
Poonam Pandey: I AM NOT a graduate. My college continues to be on but I DO NOT really go, actually I discontinued once I got into Gladrags (2010 end). There's simply so much on my plate presently. How much can an individual do? I had such a lot of assignments, modeling assignments; it was just the start of my career. It was my dream to search out my feet within the glamour industry ever since I USED TO BE a bit girl.
Hindustan Times: Who's for your family?
Poonam Pandey: There's my mother, my father, my siblings. I'VE a brother who's elder to me by 2 years. (Nilesh Pandey is a software engineer). I'VE a younger sister Shradhdha Pandey who's very cute. She is taking her exams right not, I'M HOPING she does really well.
Hindustan Times: How does clan react to you and your work?
Poonam Pandey: Being very honest somebody had posed this question to my mother also and he or she replied saying nobody talks to her face, and it doesn't bother her in the event that they gossip behind her back. My mother trusts me. I WILL BE ABLE TO provde the same answer. I ACTUALLY don't care. That is my career and my image. Why should I ALTER myself and my career choice as a result of some gossipmongers? That is how I'M.
Hindustan Times: So there hasn't ever been a nasty moment at home?
Poonam Pandey: There are moments after they get upset, On the end of the day I'm a lady and also you understand how it may be. I also face ups and downs at home but I manage. They know that I LIKE my career. So that they come around.
Hindustan Times: What was your first job, how old were you then?
Poonam Pandey: The primary ever audition I gave was for Gladrags. I USED TO BE 19 then.
Hindustan Times: Current assignments?
Poonam Pandey: I'M a bikini model. And whatever work I'VE done up to now have been chosen after much thinking. I've done the promo of the Grammy Awards recently. I'm in lots of calendars too. Presently I'm targeting movies.
Hindustan Times: You post risqué images, videos and crazy nuggets of data out of your private space - e.g. the way you like your shower. Why do you do that?
Poonam Pandey: I BELIEVE by now people realize and know that only Poonam Pandey can do such crazy things. As I told you I DO NOT plan and tweet, I do just whatever involves my mind. I'm an excessively free and really independent more or less a lady. I REALLY LIKE to entertain people and keep myself entertained too.
Hindustan Times: You're famous for being famous? What's your talent?
Poonam Pandey: I AM NOT sure if you'll be able to explain over the telephone as to what my talent is. I'M damn sure that once the day comes I WILL BE in a position to prove myself and stun everyone with the result. I AM NOT overconfident, I just know my worth.
Hindustan Times: What do you want to inform feminists and other who judge you for the surface show?
Poonam Pandey: I MIGHT say to them that i'm a brand new generation girl and likewise that to every his own. I wish increasingly more people become open-minded of their strategy to life.
Hindustan Times: Now, a clichéd question. How did you return up with this concept of stripping for Indian cricket team?
Poonam Pandey: Seriously such a lot of people have asked me this question. There has been no idea. It was just something I said out of pleasure. I CAN'T change people's mentality. It was no publicity stunt. I MIGHT obviously not undergo with something like that. I respect the law of the land. I said this and such a lot of lawsuits followed. I've faced all that. I DO KNOW what all I'VE passed through. I had no intent of wounding sensibilities.
Hindustan Times: So then are all cases settled now?
Poonam Pandey: Since I DIDN'T commit any crime, it is all good now.
Hindustan Times: Are you seeing someone presently? Do you think that it'll take an excessively strong man thus far someone as independent as you?
Poonam Pandey: No, not presently. And that i don't want a superstar to date, I DO NOT know if somebody desires to date me or not. But I wish that whoever I fall for must have the qualities that my father has.
Hindustan Times: Do you're thinking that you'll ever regret the best way you've attained success?
Poonam Pandey: I DO NOT BELIEVE I'll ever regret anything that I do.
