Will we still love Taimur, AbRam and Aradhya when they make their Bollywood debut?
There is no reason to think that pulling off a Taimur, or an AbRam, is easy work.
Imagine the day Taimur Ali Khan will debut, if at all, in Bollywood. How excited would be the generation that collectively swoons every time baby Taimur turns towards the camera or gets a new hair cut! And while this fondness, also called "obsession" maybe, is a little excessive for Taimur, it is certainly not exclusive to him. Before Taimur, we had AbRam, who used to be spotted often beside his superstar father, Shah Rukh Khan, during IPL matches. But before Taimur and AbRam came Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai's daughter Aradhya. Following closely has been Shahid Kapoor and Meera's daughter, Misha, who has joined the "Bollywood babies" group in style.
Soha Ali Khan’s daughter Inaaya, Tusshar Kapoor’s son Laksshya Kapoor, Karan Johar’s children Yash and Ruhi, all still infants, may therefore still require an introduction, though their photos have been widely circulated. But it is only a matter of time before they also become part of the famed B’town babies circle.
A Facebook page named “Picture of Taimur Ali Khan To Distract You From Real Issues” sneers at news organisations for their continuous stalking of Taimur. With cute photos of the cuter chhote nawab, the FB page intends to present some real news taking place at the same time when Taimur is doing what kids do!
However, there is no reason to think that pulling off a Taimur, or an AbRam, is easy work.
Here’s the catch
Recently, in an interview to ESPN, Virat Kohli said, if he has kids, he will not allow his stardom to overshadow their lives. “I want no part of my career being flashed into my house. I want no part of my trophies, my achievements, nothing in my house when our kids are growing up.” Fair enough.
But this is exactly what every celeb parent wants! They all seem to want their children to have a "normal childhood" (forget silver-spooned privilege for the time being). Even Kareena Kapoor has said how much she dislikes the fact that every move of Taimur’s life is being documented.
Open letters on social media
But while the parents may seem to be uneasy, some grandparents aren’t.
After an attempt to provide the celeb babies a “normal” childhood comes a phase when their grandparents start wishing them on their birthdays — on very public social media. For a long time, there were attempts to keep Aradhya Bachchan away from the glare of social media. But then, on her fifth birthday, her grandfather had an emotional Twitter post for her.
On a television show, Karan Johar too read out an emotional letter addressed to his months-old twins.
On May 27, as AbRam turned five, both his parents posted heartfelt messages, with photos, on social media.
That these celebs can’t keep their emotions in control on social media somewhat contradicts their heartfelt desire to keep the kids out of the public glare.
When they do debut
A little far-fetched — and also difficult to imagine as Karan Johar may be too old to launch them all! But the first film of, say, Taimur or Misha, will be nothing like the first films of Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, or Shraddha Kapoor. These star-kids had somehow managed to be unknown faces for a long time, despite the huge celebrity statuses of their parents.
Their launches thus gave them the freshness, the newness, that unpredictable quality every debutant needs — and not a massive yawn from an audience that has actually seen their every smile, nod, wink and dance moves over the years.