Good on the security personnel to ask for the star's ID, and equally good on Ms Padukone to present it without much fuss.
By Vicky Kapur (From the Executive Editor's Desk)
Published: Mon 24 Jun 2019, 9:15 PM
So this clip is apparently going viral - of Bollywood starlet Deepika Padukone being asked (and complying to) an ID check at the airport in Mumbai. She was reportedly flying out to Bengaluru with her father Prakash Padukone, the former Indian badminton player. Good on the security personnel to ask for the star's ID, and equally good on Ms Padukone to present it without much fuss. That she's still being trolled online for asking chahiye kya? (loosely translated to 'do you really need it?') before furnishing an ID card can be blamed on fans and fanatics splitting hair on a given weekend.
In any case, the credential check seemed like an afterthought since the clip shows that the Padukones were already past the gate and the security officer calls her from behind to ask for the ID. There are of course others who've praised her for being down to earth but I'm not sure what choice does one have when an officer at a high-security zone asks one for identification proof. Anyway, there wasn't an obvious sense of entitlement there even if it's easy to say that she belongs to the me-me-me millennial generation which doesn't think beyond itself. You and I might have asked the same question if the officer in question initially allows you through but then suddenly decides that a random check is in order.
But you and I aren't Deepika Padukone, and the trolls are out to prove that, in her mind, she must feel like she's the queen of England to wonder if she really needed to show her ID. To be honest, there is no dearth of people who one meets on a regular basis in conferences, seminars, and even parties who'd take offence if you didn't recognise them before the drop of the proverbial hat. As a matter of fact, I've been unfortunate enough to witness individuals throwing their weight around unsuspecting wage earners - waiters, valet attendants, even supermarket clerks - with a 'do you know who I am?' look. Frankly, no one should really care - even if you're Deepika Padukone.