The context in which celebrities raise their children is miles apart from that of the average Indian family. Yet millions of viewers, from middle-class homes to lower-income households, watch their interviews and read articles about them, internalising parental advice they give as if it applies to them as well New Delhi: In India, celebrity culture is omnipresent. We see it in the way Bollywood stars are idolised, sports icons are revered, and influencers become household names.
Every statement, every lifestyle choice, and every snippet of their private lives is consumed voraciously by a society eager to glimpse the seemingly perfect lives of the famous. Among the most consumed of these glimpses are the parenting philosophies of celebrities—how they manage their work-life balance, raise children with “middle-class values,” and claim to be “hands-on” parents despite their overwhelming wealth and privilege. This overlooks an uncomfortable reality: the context in which celebrities raise their children is miles apart from that of the average Indian family.
Yet millions of viewers, from middle-class homes to lower-income households, watch these interviews and read these articles, internalising this advice as if it applies to them. In doing so, they are engaging in a form of social self-deception—trying to mirror lifestyles and advice that are fundamentally incompatible with their own lives. Celebrity obsession Indian society, particularly the middle class, has long bee.