Over the years, the entertainment industry has grown to great extents. And not only have films gone bigger, but Television also has grown. And the major source of this goes to the workforce behind the scenes too. One such person who has been ruling the publicity front in the TV space has been the owner of Brand N Buzz, Dolly Tilani Bhatter. She has been managing the work for actors like the Bigg Boss 15 winner Tejasswi Prakash, Rupali Ganguly, Shantanu Maheshwari, Erica Fernandes, Late Sidharth Shukla, and many more.
Recently, when I spoke to Dolly about her journey there were a lot of interesting things she had to share…
Was being in the PR industry always the plan?
Not really…My undergraduate at NYU was in International Business and Marketing. In fact, I had interned in PR during my college days and thought to myself this is something I can never do. However, that was a B2B PR firm on Wall Street which is completely different from Entertainment PR.
You are from the US with a degree from NYU and are now living in India…How has the shift been?
It’s been lovely. Yes, the work cultures are different but I always loved the Indian Entertainment Industry. When you are passionate about your work and have the right support system, everything else just falls into place.
How was the PR game when you first started off?
It was very different as there were just a handful of publications. The work was also easier because there were a few journalists and the pool of actors was also smaller so the respect given to actors was a lot more in those days when social media and new age journalism did not exist.
Also, is doing Publicity for the TV industry different?
Television has a huge market and Indian Television especially is one of the largest industries globally. It is very different from doing PR for a film because those are short term projects. For us at Brand N Buzz, we’ve had long term relationships with our client which go back sometimes to even 8-10 years and have been with them in the journey towards better work and growth. And when long term comes into the picture, so does branding because you cannot be doing the same thing every day.
You manage some really big names in the TV industry today, how did this journey begin?
Six months into having shifted to India after I got married, I was itching to do something which is when Brand N Buzz officially started. I met a few actors and signed on my first client after which Sushant Singh Rajput was our second client. He had already verbally committed to another agency but he met me and we had an international connect as I had studied in the US and he had a dream of going to the US to learn direction. And after that there has been no looking back.
Over the years, how has Brand N Buzz grown? Also, tell me about your team.
From starting the company alone, today we have a multi-faceted team comprising of social media experts, PR professionals, writers, editors, management executives, brand specialists, etc. We started as a PR agency, moved into the social media space and then in 2021 we also started a management wing. Having everything under one umbrella makes our actors more comfortable while for our team, each vertical is working hand in hand to churn out work along with the right kind of visibility and social media presence for our actors. The team at Brand N Buzz is the true soul and heart of our organization. A hand cannot move without its fingers and similarly our team is an integral part of the success we’ve achieved. I truly believe that I alone deserve no credit, it’s my team that has brought Brand N Buzz to where it stands today.
Who was your very first client in the TV industry?
Brand N Buzz’s first client was actress Pooja Gor. She was doing Pratigya at that time. After that we signed on Sushant Singh Rajput, Manasi Parekh, etc.
If there is one particular client whose journey you are proud of who would that be?
Each and every one…If I had to name a few, Aashka Goradia who walked the Emmy’s Red Carpet representing India, had a very successful acting career and then bid adieu and today is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of our country. Sushant Singh Rajput’s transition from television to films happened with us and that was such a proud moment as for years later I had so many actors who would say we want a journey like Sushant. I remember the path, his words, the hard work he put in till date. Hina Khan, started working with us right before she entered Bigg Boss, and the journey was quite challenging. From coming out with a lot of love to working with her in showing that television too can have style, Hina eventually became one of the biggest Divas sand style icons of our industry. In fact, her Cannes red carpet debut was one of the most challenging and yet rewarding moments in my career. Lastly, a name that has left a void in all our lives, is Sidharth Shukla. Sidharth and I started working together right before he entered the Bigg Boss house and his Bigg Boss journey and post was also an extremely proud journey. We miss him till date!
Are you happy with the way your journey turned out?
I count my blessings when I look at the kind of work we’ve done. Honestly till date it feels surreal sometimes. My mother is a house wife, my father moved to the US to give us a better lifestyle. Today, settled in India I realize when I look back at how blessed I am to have had my mother’s push to be an independent woman, my father’s inheritance of creativity and righteousness and my husband who gives me wings to fly, to never worry about falling because he’s always there for me. Today as a mother, I am blessed to have support at home to continue my career as everything else including my child is taken care of when I am at work. So I can say the journey has just begun and there’s a lot more to come…
If there is a message you want to PR give aspirants, what would that be?
PR is constantly evolving as well as getting more challenging by the day due to the clutter so there has to be a constant exercise of unlearning and relearning. Let your ideas and creativity blossom…
With the journey Dolly has had, I can only imagine the beautiful stories she would have to cherish in life, super-inspired!