David Beckham turned Bollywood’s A-listers into fanboys and fangirls. Karisma Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Mira Rajput, Malaika Arora—no one could resist taking multiple photos with the former footballer.
“When me and the wife both met our teenage crush,” Shahid Kapoor captioned his encounter with the co-owner of Inter Miami FC. The stars were starstruck.
Other celebrities like Farhan Akhtar and Arjun Kapoor also queued up to get a photo with the former England captain.
Even paparazzi captured the smiles and body language of the stars as they stood next to Beckham at the party hosted by Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja in Mumbai last night. Malaika Arora had a hand to her heart while talking to the man of the hour.
Beckham was in India as part of the UNICEF outreach programme and attended the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. Beckham also interacted with Sachin Tendulkar, Sidharth Malhotra, and Kiara Advani during the match.
And it’s not just Beckham. Our stars have rolled out the red carpet for Ed Sheeran and sought out other international actors like Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Katy Perry, and Akon. It’s not uncommon for international celebrities to go ga-ga over other singers, actors and performers. Singers like Adele, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Taylor Swift can count the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Hudson, Dua Lipa, Emma Stone, Gigi Hadid and others as fans.
But there is a certain desi flavour that Bollywood brings in, where the adulation or fandom teeters on the invasion of personal boundaries. A red-faced Sheeran was sandwiched between stars at a party in Mumbai several years ago. Karisma Kapoor looks like she is almost holding on to dear life, not Beckham. Maheep Kapoor has posted an entire slideshow of images commemorating the evening.
And they’re so proud of their invasion of privacy that they regale the tales of these encounters like trophies. In an interview with Rajeev Masand in 2016, Ranbir Kapoor recalled how Natalie Portman told him to ‘get lost’. The Barfi actor ran behind Portman at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival to praise her work. Innocent enough, but the Black Swan actor was on the phone and crying at the time. In a retelling of this encounter a year later, Ranbir said it took place on the streets of New York and he didn’t realise Portman was crying. Even then, one would think an actor would understand another’s need for privacy. But clearly, those boundaries are absent.
Also Read: Bollywood gets personal. Come live in SRK’s house after a horrendous 2020
The Ed Sheeran party
Indian paparazzi and even fans are criticised for sometimes heckling stars to get that one selfie or photo. But all etiquette and expectation go out the window when those asking for the selfies are stars themselves.
Spiderman stars Tom Holland and Zendaya’s appearance at the opening of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai this year had this contrast in full display. Once again, Karisma Kapoor was at the forefront with a series of photos with the Hollywood stars.
But the most infamous of these incidents is a 2017 party hosted by filmmaker Farah Khan in honour of singer Ed Sheeran. Social media was plastered with drunken selfies and group photos from the event for days. And in almost every picture, Sheeran looked like he wanted to be rescued from the madness.
What stood out was Khan’s confession that right up till she hosted the party, she had no idea who Sheeran was.
That one friend who have no clue what personal space is. #FarahKhan is that clingy friend.#EdSheeranIndia pic.twitter.com/2RaD6y7gRf
— Amby Says (@ambyism) November 20, 2017
Sheeran did share photos from the party, praising the host and his experience of performing in Mumbai. But fans were quick to point out that we have all been forced to say nice things about a situation when we would rather say the opposite.
Also Read: Bollywood has finally spoken, because Modi selfies aren’t really helping
Not just Indian celebs
It is not just a one-way street, even international celebrities behave like love-struck teenagers around Bollywood stars. Spanish actor Antonio Banderas looked positively smitten when he danced with actor Mallika Sherawat at the Cannes 2012 party. Soon after, Banderas filed for divorce from his wife fuelling a media furore. The tabloids pointed to Sherawat as the alleged reason for the broken marriage.
Paris Hilton and Hrithik Roshan also crossed paths at a restaurant opening in Dubai back in 2014, where the actor charmed the heiress. Hilton even expressed her desire to be cast opposite Roshan as his love interest.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)