If there was an award for the favourite star kid of 2017, Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi would have won it unopposed. We can bet on our pants that your newsfeed is perpetually flooded with photos of Taimur being a perfectly normal toddler all the time, and more recently at Bhopal’s Pataudi Palace.
This is what a Google search on Taimur Ali Khan looked like on his birthday (and almost every day). The kid has, literally, been trending on every social media platform all this year.
Since he was born, media is on a noble mission to broadcast to choke you with as many photographs of him as possible in a day.
#CutenessOverload is not fine because his parents might be celebrities, but that doesn’t shower upon us the liberty to click his photos as well. Isn’t it? Oh, did we forget to mention that it’s no rocket science to understand that a news story with Taimur’s photos is bound to get maximum views. And who doesn’t love an easy job? Right?
Saif Ali Khan’s open letter, after he took a dig at Kangana Ranaut might be misplaced on many levels but it hit the nail on the head when he said:
The real flagbearer of nepotism, I’d say is the media. Look at how they treat Taimur, Shahid’s daughter Misha or even Shah Rukh’s son AbRam. They photograph them and hype them up to be the next big thing and the child has no choice. From a young age they have to deal with being celebrities, which they don’t really deserve, before they can even speak or talk, leave alone understand what is happening. “
Also read: Kareena Kapoor Khan doesn’t want Taimur to grow as a star kid, like that’s even possible. LOL!
And it is not just Taimur, from AbRam to Navya Naveli Nanda and Janhvi Kapoor, and from Misha and Adira to Suhana and Sara Ali Khan, we seem to be obsessed with the star kids for no particular reason.
Recently, at Rani Mukerji and Aditya Chopra’s daughter, Adira’s birthday celebrations the same media was not able to get a single photograph of the birthday girl due to strict rules laid out by Aditya Chopra.
Rani Mukerji shared a photo of Adira (Source; The Indian Express)
Thanks to this utmost sincerity and love for the ‘star’ kids, we not only have multiple fan accounts of them on social media but it has also helped some of them get their biggest break in Bollywood. After creating all the hype around them and making them popular, can we totally blame the industry for considering them profitable for their business (read films)?
Presenting JANHVI in #धड़क Releasing 6th July 2018
But her debut on Instagram is today! https://t.co/mzVGR9GYU1 @ShashankKhaitan @apoorvamehta18 @ZeeStudios_ @DharmaMovies pic.twitter.com/cEDZBs6zid— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) November 15, 2017
Also read: Is Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar debut film, Dhadak a remake of Sairat? Sort of
So while Janhvi and Shahid Kapoor’s brother Ishaan Khatter are working in Karan Johar’s remake of the blockbuster Marathi movie, Sairaat, Ishaan is ready to make his debut with renowned Iranian director Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Clouds?
Let’s be honest. On the pretext of news, on one hand, where media is feeding on the insecurities of common man, on the other, it is questioning the film industry, whose sole aim is to do business and make money, for investing in people who possess an existing brand value.
Next time, when we challenge these celebrities and the film fraternity for promoting nepotism, it’s better we question the liberties that come with the tag of media as well.
