My father and Kareena Kapoor Khan were in the same elevator and he did not even recognize her.
In the year 2014, my father had to visit Mumbai ( the film capital of India) a couple of times for professional trips.
It was one such busy evening in Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, and my father walked into the elevator with one of his juniors.
Just as they walked in, a lady surrounded by a few men entered.
As soon as my father’s junior saw that lady, he started sweating profusely. He was acting strangely and appeared much like an absolute fool. The lady smiled at him, and he was almost on the verge of fainting.
My father, on the other hand, stared at his junior, being absolutely clueless regarding why he had suddenly started acting like a buffoon.
“ Sir..s..i..r “
his junior fumbled as the lady and the men stepped out of the elevator.
“ Yes. What’s wrong?”
my father questioned, shifting his eyes from his cell phone.
“ Kareena Kapoor!”
he fumbled.
“ No, my name is Ujjal Dutta Gupta, not Kareena Kapoor,”
he replied.
His junior let out a long sigh and then asserted
“Sir, Kareena Kapoor was just here! In this very elevator!”
“Oh! Good! I did not notice”
my father replied, smiling a bit.
“Sir! How can you not notice this!”
his junior said, almost in a great state of shock.
“ What do you want me to do? Dance?”
my father questioned, almost laughing now.
“Sir! She is Kareena Kapoor! How Can you not recognize her!”
his junior said. He was almost going insane at my father’s indifference.
My father was getting a little irritated at this point and said
“ Yes. Even she did not recognize me. Fair deal you see!”
My father remembers this incident exactly word to word to date not because he had stood next to the diva, but because his junior was acting like an absolute idiot.
“What is something I don’t ‘get’?” you ask.
“ The blind idolization of celebrities,” I say.
While traveling in parts of South India, our tour guide has mentioned that it is a very common practice there to bathe the statutes and posters of film stars with milk.
( Poster of legendary film actor Rajnikant being drained in milk.)
On the other hand, these are the scenes noticed in certain parts of the country:-
“ Just like I can handle clients in a conference hall, Kareena Kapoor can act beautifully in front of cameras.” my father stated.
“ I can not dance in front of the cameras. Similarly, she does not possess the skill to handle clients. That’s all!” he added.
In the strongest desire to be just like our gorgeous idols, we are growing increasingly insecure regarding our existing beauty.
“ Make your life such a story…that it never loses its glory.”
