MUMBAI: Actor Abhishek Bachchan is keen on giving baby Aaradhya a middle class upbringing, just like he was given as a child. “As a parent, it’s my choice how I want to bring her up. We weren’t given special treatment. I didn’t realise dad was a star till my teens He was Pa, and mom was Ma. We were not made aware of their celebrity status. Mom ensured that. I want my daughter to grow up as normally as I did,” he has recently said in an interview.
A lot of curiosity has been surrounding the baby’s looks and it has been perceived that new parents are shielding her from the media. Especially with Aishwarya taking extreme measures to walk out of her car, or the airport only if she is shielded by an umbrella or a large dupatta. Also, baby Aaradhya is always covered head to toe in a manner that she is not visible to anyone. Abhishek explains “I understand she’ll be photographed, but I’ll ensure that she has a normal upbringing.” He goes on to say that he takes offence to the words ‘shielding’ and ‘hiding’, which have been generously used by the media. “My daughter is not an object to flash around or a prized item to put on display. She’s a small baby,” he emphasises. As to her looks, the general consensus is that she’s the perfect mix of both parents.
So is the baby the centre of his life since her arrival? “My priorities are the same. My films are of paramount importance to me, the same as my family. That’s not going to change. This is a balance I have to strike throughout my life. I want to spend more time with her, but work keeps me busy. When she was born, I was busy shooting for Bol Bachchan. Now, I start shooting for Dhoom 3 this week,” he says. He does not like to attribute his professional success to personal life either. Some would say that Aaradhya coming into his life has brought him luck. “I don’t want to think like that. I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on her. It’s unfair! My daughter is separate from my profession. I can’t blame her for my failure or my success. She’s brought immense pride and happiness, and that’s what I’m happy about. As for luck, it has a weird way of improving. The harder you work, the faster it moves. I attribute my film’s success to the whole team, especially Ajay (Devgn) and Rohit (Shetty).”
– BOC Team
