That everyone reads reviews isn't the shocker; it's how much they really care. I've had directors calling up late at night and yelling, talking of personal vendettas and unexpected betrayals, and self-proclaimed intellectual actors sitting for interviews constantly, combatively bringing up unfavorable reviews, sentence-by-sentence, even.
And then there's the flipside, winsome actresses who gush about the couple of good lines they've gotten, talking about how lanky leading men recommended the review. Whatever be the context, the first couple of times a filmi type actually quotes you to you, it feels insanely great.
The other major Bollywood realisation: don't diss/believe everything you read. Sure, there is a lot of random tabloid junk written without any need for substantiation, and major daily newspapers indulge in gossip just as much as superstars do. Actually, it's funny how much stars themselves gossip; a visit on the sets earning you an unsolicited earful every time, with discreet queries made about the truth of the current headline rumour.
Anyway, while most of it is tripe, this is an industry that thrives on tongue-talk, and a lot of it is true. There are leading men who assume they can have anyone they want simply because of who they are -- therefore dispensing even with footsie or pick-up lines -- and a casting couch definitely exists. There is a reason stereotypes are the way they are, and there are some bizarre, gristly skeletons in Bollywood's closet. You'd be well advised to stay an amused onlooker; it'll get you through many a surreal story.
And with due respect to Mr Bangs, some of these people are, in fact, your friends. Bollywood might be stuffed to the gills with pretense, but there are people you befriend minus the byline consideration.
There are film folk out there I genuinely get along with, people I love to talk movies with or just go clubbing or sincerely spill my guts to: Some of my closest friends are in the biz. And while they too, usually, hate the way I review their latest film, at least they understand it comes with the job. And that it is, at the end of the day, just one man's opinion.
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