As told to Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 2, 2018)

I grew up in the City of Dreams, schooled at Bombay Scottish and after graduating in Economics from Jai Hind College, did my masters in management studies from the Mumbai Education Trust (MET). I then got started with the four Ps. For those who are wondering about the Ps, let me explain... To understand what a product or service can offer the consumer and plan for a successful product offering, we have what is known in marketing terms as the four Ps — Price, Product, Promotion, Place.

I wanted to be a strategic planner and an implementation buyer so I interned with an ad agency, Euro RSCG, working under V Ramani. After that, I joined Enterprise Nexus Communications Pvt Ltd as a media planner. My boss Hiren Pandit gave me the opportunity to become what I am today.

Media planners analyse data and thinking creatively come up with innovative strategies to help the client reach specific markets and target audience. Depending on the package, the idea is to come up with the most effective media plan. This can take a couple of months and involves hours of backbreaking research, sometimes ending in heartbreaks. If one number changes, you have to go back to the table.

My first account was The Times Of India group. It was exhausting but at the same time exciting to work with one of India’s biggest publishing houses with credentials to match. Meanwhile, when a model didn’t show up for a shoot, I was pushed into taking his place. I ended up showcasing a pair of jeans and became a part-time model.

In 1999, I took part in Maureen Wadia’s Gladrags Manhunt Contest while planning a move to a bigger agency. To my surprise, I was shortlisted for the international Manhunt contest in Manila, Phillipines. I was the first runner-up and magically, the world opened up for me. But when I look back, I realise that had I been an inch shorter, I might never have made it as an international model. At 6 feet 1 inch, I just made the grade and was signed by Carrie Models. I worked in Singapore, Hong Kong, London and New York. Then, I returned home, continuing to make merry.

My first ad campaign was for a soap brand. I was the Cinthol Man. Sabal Shekawat gave me my first break and I recall running through the jungles of Mauritius, 20 top models, including Madhu Sapre and Diandra Soares, chasing after me. It was a memorable shoot!

Along with modelling assignments, I also started featuring in music videos, going on to collaborate with popular singers like Hans Raj Hans and Pankaj Udhas. I’ve never forgotten Pankaj’s “Chupke Chupke” whose music video Anubhav Sinha had directed. It was a sweet, innocent song which went on to become all the rage then and is still remembered today. Then, Bollywood beckoned...

I got two film offers from two Bhatts. Vikram Bhatt offered me the role of a baddie in Aetbaar while Mahesh Bhatt approached me to play the antagonist in Jism, an erotic-thriller his daughter Pooja was producing for which he wanted a new face and not a star. The agency didn’t want to lose me but my closest friends insisted I give films a go. My family has always supported me in everything I’ve done and encouraged by their confidence I took the plunge into showbiz.

It was a challenge because as a model you are just a face and a body, endorsing a brand, but as an actor you play a character who can be your polar opposite. It needs a mind and takes you places.

In 2003, I appeared on screen in my first feature film, Jism, as an alcoholic lawyer who gets caught up in an extramarital affair which destroys him. Fifteen years later, I am not just acting in but also making my own movies, from Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe to Rocky Handsome, Force 2 and the recently released Parmanu. The era of the supermodel which had yielded the likes of Milind Soman, Arjun Rampal and Dino Morea ended with me. And I ended up in the movies but the media planner in me still touches different aspects of my life. I plan my life and investments and position my films in a way that they reach the audience in the best possible way, calling into play all that I have learnt about GRPs, TRPs and OTS. I even strategise on my football team’s (he has 90 per cent stakes in NorthEast United Football Club which plays in Indian Football League) jersey, brand positioning and ticket sales. Once you enter the market, you are there to stay. But that’s not enough for me, I want to ensure I am always at the top of my game.


A still from Pankaj Udhas’s ‘Chupke Chupke’; John in his early days (top)

Triumphant from his battle with bipolar disorder, Punjabi hip hop star Yo Yo Honey Singh returns with Bollywood song after two years
Soumya Vajpayee Tiwari (MID-DAY; December 23, 2017)

His songs were sureshot party starters and he, the darling of the music world. But Yo Yo Honey Singh went missing in action in 2015 after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Now, mid-day has learnt that the rockstar is set to make a comeback in the music circuit.

Singh has lent his voice to a song titled Dil Chori Sadda Ho Gaya, for the Kartik Aryan-starrer Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. The party number, a remake of the song by the same name by Punjabi legend Hans Raj Hans, will release on December 26.

Known to add his unique spin to existing ditties, like he did in the case of his hit single Dheere Dheere (2015), Singh says he has added a Bhangra flavour to the Hans Raj Hans number. He tells mid-day, "I've always appreciated Hans Raj Hansji's work. It was great to turn his song into a Bhangra number with Hindi lyrics."

The Lungi Dance singer says that he is more than happy to be back in the recording studio -- a place where he truly belongs. From surviving the dark chapter of his life to emerging triumphant in his battle, Singh says his fans' love was his source of strength through it all. Stating that his admirers prompted the comeback, he adds, "I am happy to bring a new song for my fans. I want to convey my love to them, because they have waited for my music for so long."