In Bollywood trade circles, they often say — there are PRs and there are more PRs and then there is Dale Bhagwagar.
That is because Bollywood’s only PR guru Dale Bhagwagar is the most charismatic of them all; the king of spin. A PR legend of sorts, Dale is the most famous entertainment publicist from India ever, the most quoted, the most trusted, the most experienced (he has been in news media for more than three decades), the most tech savvy, the most futuristic. And in spite of his fame, the most approachable.
Best of Bollywood PR clients
The top celebrity publicist has handled the media for over 300 personalities including Hrithik Roshan, Shilpa Shetty, Priyanka Chopra, Govinda, Arbaaz Khan, Randeep Hooda, Vivek Oberoi, Preetisheel Singh D’Souza, Daler Mehndi, Rakul Preet Singh, Manoj Bajpayee, the evergreen Dev Anand, and films such as the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Don and Farhan Akhtar-starrer Rock On!!
He spearheaded Shilpa Shetty’s PR during her Big Brother win and has also handled the media for a full 20 contestants who have participated in the reality show’s Indian counterpart Bigg Boss; most known for being hosted by megastar Salman Khan.
He has handled PR and crisis management for names such as Rakhi Sawant, Godman Swami Nithyananda, as well as Global Advertisers; patrons of Godwoman Radhe Maa.
Quoted in world media
In fact, Dale is considered to be a master with handling controversies and crisis management. For this, he has been quoted in each and every prominent Indian media, apart from some of the topmost international publications and news television channels such as BBC World, CNN, Sky News, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, Daily Mail, New York Times and The Washington Post.
He has appeared on Indian talk shows including Barkha Dutt’s We The People and also on Arnab Goswami’s prime time news. In fact, Arnab Goswami even let him talk at length. 😉
PR for top movies too
That’s not all! Dale’s PR firm has handled the publicity for around 40 movies starring some of the best actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Arjun Rampal, Bipasha Basu, Bo Derek, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Jesse Metcalfe, John Abraham, Kabir Bedi, Kareena Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Manisha Koirala, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Padma Lakshmi, Prakash Raj, Preity Zinta, Rahul Bose, Rani Mukerji, Raveena Tandon, Rekha, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Shabana Azmi, Sharman Joshi, Shriya Saran, Sunil Shetty, Sunny Deol… and the list goes on and on.
Setting trends in public relations
Always ahead of the times, he has set the maximum top PR trends in the entertainment PR industry. His path-breaking PR tactics and strategies set the agenda for others in public relations business. Like making legal agreements compulsory for Bollywood PR agency clients, introducing the system of advance payments to publicists, making film journalists shift from receiving hard copy and photo bromides to digital press releases and images even before their time had come, discouraging his clients from appearing at press conferences during crisis and doubling up as their spokesperson, stage-managing online positioning for his clients and many such PR manoeuvres.
His PR agency Dale Bhagwagar Media Group is the only one operating via virtual networking since a decade now, which is the reason why he also became the only publicist to earn more even during the Corona lockdowns in India.
Journalism and PR internships
He also trains mass communication students in the hundreds in journalism and PR through regular college visits for guest lectures. He conducts virtual internships for media students of journalism and PR, and is the only PR professional who has kept an entry test for students even for internships. Yes, Dale picks and chooses who he wants to train!
Many students who consider him their mentor are currently working in some of the best Bollywood and corporate PR agencies in Mumbai and across India. That’s not all! More than twenty students have completed their thesis and dissertations with Dale Bhagwagar as their guide.
So vast is his influence over gen next in entertainment PR, that Bollywood journalists often joke that he is creating “Mini Dales” in the PR market. In fact, his PR strategies have made a perfect case study for many students of journalism, PR and mass communication.
His mindset can be judged from what he stated in an interview some time ago. The PR guru quipped, “Glory is not measured by how people earn or whom they work with in their careers. Glory is earned by leaving a mark on impressionable minds. It comes not by being a thought leader, but by creating thought leaders and leaving a legacy. If I can achieve even a bit of that, I’ll consider my life to be a success.”
Going by that measure, we can say Dale Bhagwagar has already achieved it all and keeps raging like an unstoppable bull. Gosh! This man! The world sure needs to make more like him.