Rohini Iyer, Founder and Director, Raindrop Media, takes ‘Reputation Management’ very seriously. Raindrop is one of the leading Brand and Image Building Consultancies in Bollywood. On the 31st of January, Rohini was awarded "Woman of the Decade in Celebrity Media" at the Women Economic Forum (WEF) 2017 at The Bhavan, by Dr. Harbeen Arora, Founder and Global Chairperson All Ladies League and Krishna Pujara, Chairperson Women Economic Forum UK. The regional forum of WEF took place from 31st Jan to 2 Feb, bringing together more than 500 men and women from 35+ countries. The theme for the event was “Awakening the Power Within: The Way Forward for UK”. Rohini was also a speaker on the subject of "Reinventing the world of stardom/fashion and beauty" at the event.
Touted as the Olivia Pope of Bollywood, Rohini has been a game-changer and a trendsetter- handling topmost celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Sonam Kapoor and also having worked with superstars like Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, among numerous others for their films or publicity campaigns.
Asian Voice got an exclusive opportunity to speak to her about the biggest challenge she faces as a professional and her journey to the top. She started out as a film journalist when she was 16, and continued her journey as a publicity and brand strategist. In her words, “I sometimes feels like a music conductor surrounded by musicians in the opera, being in the middle of all the drama 24*7”. Every new day is a bigger challenge for her than the previous one, and she is more than happy to turn the day in her favour- “While negative publicity inevitably makes headlines, we, at Raindrop, do not subscribe to the policy as negative publicity is short lived and superstars don’t need it”, she says.
As a young woman achiever, for her, anything that celebrates womanhood is a milestone. As she puts it, “Girls compete with each other, but women empower each other and let each other grow”. Receiving the award at the WEF 2017, she did recognise the existing glass ceiling for women across the world, but her take on it was moving and motivating- “I believe it just requires one person to break the glass ceiling. If each of us women pick up at least one young girl to mentor, we will make a huge change. We need to not only support women who have made it or are there in the public eye, but also those who are starting out just now. Keep pushing, especially when you are at your lowest.”
The movement of talent from Bollywood to Hollywood has been on the rise in the recent years with actors like Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Deepika Padukone, and recently, Sonam Kapoor, among others. Rohini believes that the West is coming to India now, they are looking towards India as a market, as well as a talent pool. However, the recent political controversies that have surrounded Bollywood’s stalwarts are a disturbing trend- “This is happening all across the world, and the film fraternity globally is a casualty”, she said. Amidst all the crises, she just never switches off. In such situations of news spreading like wildfire, how does she shield her clientele? She explains, “We advise stars what do to in such situations. I just say, Main hoon na (I’m here for you), you relax, I’ll handle it.” No wonder her comforting words and relentless efforts has top Bollywood stars rooting for her. We asked what was next for Raindrop. She replied with a smile, “World Domination”.
