All eyes were on Priyanka Chopra when she flew down to join S.S. Rajamouli’s hush-hush new film SSMB29 in Hyderabad. Bringing PC on board gives international wings to the Mahesh Babu starrer, further fuelling SSR’s global ambitions.

PC’s arrival in India around the time the Mahakumbh took off sparked off a spate of zero-credibility stories that she would be visiting Prayagraj for a dip. “No way,” said mom Madhu Chopra, who was attending publisher Ajay Mago’s son’s wedding in Delhi. It was Madhu who flew from the wedding celebrations to the Mahakumbh for a dip. PC’s influence opens doors that give Madhu VIP privileges. But she herself couldn’t go to Prayagraj, “Because it would be a security nightmare,” explained her mother.

Farah Khan had once noted that Priyanka was the first female Hindi film industry actor to arrive at shootings with a large entourage that included managers, personal staff and security to throw a ring around her. She had earned that attention.

Unfortunately, the presence of bodyguards has slid from being a necessity to becoming a status symbol with the most inconsequential of starlets demanding and getting a security cordon around them, along with several busy-looking managers whispering into their ears.

But filmmakers like Karan Johar are to also take the rap for making their debutantes feel like they’ve arrived before proving themselves.

Right now, after three flops, there’s a whisper of resentment going around the Dharma office about a certain celebrity kid. The privileges she gets (from designer wear and staff to travel arrangements and bodyguards) have zero equation with what she has achieved so far. In fact, she’s fast being written off. Other star kids like Sara Ali Khan and her brother Ibrahim will also have to start earning the privileges they’ve been receiving as birthright. Many like Tiger Shroff, who’s said to attend an event or a shoot with a retinue that includes a personal chef and trainer, will also be on notice if their films continue to fall by the wayside. It’s not just their price tags that will take a hit, it will be a rude awakening when their multi-level privileges are also gradually withdrawn from them.

Working hard to establish his son as different from other entitled kids is Aamir Khan, who’s known to point out how Junaid uses, “Public transport and doesn’t even take one of my cars.”

There have been photographs of the paparazzi chasing him as Junaid gets into an autorickshaw. It makes certain sceptics titter that this too is a part of mastermind Aamir’s orchestration to establish that Junaid is no nepo kid.

However, it is true that even when the paparazzi wasn’t around, the production people of Loveyapa got used to Junaid taking Ubers and rickshaws to his shoots. In contrast to his co-star Khushi Kapoor.

Aamir himself was known to casually stroll down Pali Hill where he lives and had to use security for the first time only when there were threats to him from the underworld around the time Lagaan was released.

Salman does require security, so does SRK, given the millions that mill around them. But do kids in their families who are yet to prove their worth need to flaunt their entitlement as a right?

Decades ago, when juggling with several films simultaneously was an indicator of success, Aamir Khan had pulled back and made the momentous decision of working on only one film at a time. After being laughed at and labelled suicidal, his colleagues quietly followed in his footsteps.

Maybe Aamir’s efforts to make Junaid dispense with entitlement will also set a pattern for other celebrity kids to start behaving like the rest of the normal world. It will be a great birthday gift to himself — apart from, of course, gifting himself a new girlfriend in Gauri Spratt. Happy 60th, Aamir.