Gotcha: Malaika and her husband Arbaaz Khan perform in Mumbai on Thursday to promote a beauty product

The romantics were suitably dewy eyed; the sceptics knew it all along. A Mumbai tabloid had just broken the news of actor Arbaaz Khan remarrying. His dancer-actress wife, Malaika Arora Khan, had confirmed the news. “Yes, he is,” she said.

It turned out to be a stunt, the tabloid now claims. A public relations firm planted the story in the paper on Thursday in a bid to gather eyeballs before an event in Mumbai where the two actors were endorsing a beauty product. The daily which “scooped” the story carried a clarification the next day. “It turns out that our story was false,” it said in its cover story on Friday. “When celebrities wilfully lie to the media, it’s not just us they are deceiving, they are also making fools of you, reader.”

The incident has rocked Mumbai. Some believe that the media, sections of which have relentlessly been hounding celebrities, have got what they deserve, and some feel that the stunt has gone too far. Apart from the tabloid, two news channels ran the story of the alleged break-up.

The next day, the explanations came thick and fast. At a press conference where reporters thought the Khans would spill the beans of their marital discord, the two got “remarried” in mock Greek style. And then they danced and endorsed the beauty product.

“I never said that we were breaking up,” says Malaika. “I just told the reporter that Arbaaz was re-marrying. I didn’t tell him that he was re-marrying me nor did I tell him who he was remarrying.”

Days before that, the PR agency tried out a similar trick, this time concerning Indian cricketer Sreesanth and Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. An audio tape was mysteriously released to a few news channels. The tape, the anonymous tip went, carried a conversation between the cricketer and the actress, with Sreesanth professing his love for Priyanka. A few TV channels focussed on the news through the day.

Mumbai’s media, not surprisingly, are fuming. Film industrywallahs, who have been hounded by the media, are smirking. “I think it’s a lesson for the paparazzi that are hungry for such stories. The media of late have been publishing things just on the basis of rumours without even confirming the details. This incident will prompt them to confirm every detail before publishing,” says actor Jackie Shroff, who has often been written about by the media for his so-called affairs. “What’s important is that readers don’t have anything better to talk about than film celebrities getting together or separated,” he says, adding that he sees the incident as “a very creative way” of promoting a brand.

Film-maker Anurag Basu, who has also often been linked to young actresses, including Kangana Ranaut, by the media, says much ado is being made about nothing. “I think it’s time we matured and stopped taking such things too seriously. We need to accept one thing — that people will have to try different ways of promoting their products in today’s competitive world. People have to shout from the rooftops to sell,” says Basu.

And this is an act that actress Supriya Pilgaonkar, wife of actor Sachin Pilgaonkar, loves. “I think people should take this positively and the media should not rave and rant about it. It was a part of the marketing strategy of a multinational and their ways of promoting a brand. If Sachin and I were to promote a brand in the same way, what would be more interesting than to get re-married after 25 years? Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Attempts had been made earlier to promote a film or an event with gimmicky ways, but these were usually done in co-operation with the media. An advertisement for Criminal said in bold letters “Manisha Koirala shot at.” A newspaper, with the banner headline “Jackie Shroff arrested,” was distributed at traffic signals to promote his film Gardish.

But the brands this time have used the media without their knowledge. And that is something that senior trade analyst Atul Mohan refuses to take lying down.

“We have seen various stars doing something or the other to be in the news by creating controversies around them in so many ways. But the Arbaaz and Malaika gimmick has made them fall in the eyes of their fans, and lowered the bar of how low stars can fall for media space and attention,” he says. “How can you degrade an institution like marriage for professional gain?”

Malaika staunchly defends her stand. “How will I put my 10-year-old son in trauma for professional gain? The media misrepresented the story by printing half the truth and added a lot of lies to it,” she says.

Atul Mohan however agrees that the media boom is to blame for such developments. “The growth of media has been phenomenal with print, broadcast and the web entering the game in large numbers. The dearth of exclusive content is now being exploited by the stars who have learnt how to use the media and create news for themselves. It’s high time the media realised how they are fooled by stars by half-baked news they create themselves,” he says.

All said and done, this is certainly an event that has prompted some questions to be asked. Optimists believe that it may stem the craving for celebrity news. Pragmatists believe that this is just one incident — till another!