While nearly all of us need smart phones to get by in today’s world, there are some who don’t believe in following the herd! Hollywood stars like Vince Vaughn and Tyra Banks are famous for renouncing the cell phone. Turns out there are many more celebrity luddites closer home! Exhibit A — Naga Shaurya. It was at the pre-release event of Kirrak Party that Nikhil Siddharth made the interesting observation that he’s never seen Naga Shaurya with a phone! “We meet so often but he never carries a mobile phone,” says an amused Nikhil.
Wondering how the actor gets by without the phone, which is now an indispensable part of modern living? The actor reveals, “I am at either shooting or at home. When there is no shooting, I don’t go out for parties or anything. I will be at home and if I want to see something, I take my mother’s phone.” It’s been a year since he’s given up the phone. The actor adds, “When I am shooting, my personal assistant is with me, so my parents call him or they call my driver.”
One wonders how this celebrity, without a phone, still manages to maintain vibrant social media accounts. Naga Shourya lets us in on the secret. “It’s a private company that manages my social media account,” he says, adding that if he wants to convey something specific to his followers, he sits down with the team that handles his accounts.
His friends come home to meet him and so do the directors, to narrate the scripts. All in all, it seems to be a comfortable arrangement for the star! Another A-lister who stays away from the phone is director S.S. Rajamouli. While he may answer the odd call on his phone, he usually uses the device only to tweet. Those who know him well understand the best way to reach out to the director is through his wife Rama.
Yet another star who has a distaste for phones is actor Mahesh Babu. In an earlier interview, the actor had said, “When my wife wants to talk to me, she calls my makeup man or some other person at the shooting.” “I have a phone, but it is not around me,” says Mahesh, who uses his device sparingly, that too only for Twitter. Others on the list are director Sekhar Kammula and actor-turned-politician Balakrishna. Like Mahesh, Sekhar owns a phone but hardly uses it. Meanwhile, Balakrishna’s phone can be found in the safe custody of his personal assistant!
There are a number of Kollywood celebrities who use only an ordinary phone for voice calls, which they carry on their person and keep the smartphone tucked away in their bags for use only when they have time to catch up with their mail and social media. Work comes first for many of the established stars but they have reliable assistants who can tend to the mobile while they are working. Some of them have said that they like to take a break now and then from their smartphones but can’t do without them altogether. A phone fast about once a week is best, a star confessed. Most Kollywood actors and their phones are inseparable.
