Remember that time we awwed and felt overwhelmed when Justin Timberlake went on paternity leave after the birth of his son? Or when the world found just another reason to worship Kanye West because he decided to lay off work for the first couple of months after North was born? Well, buckle up for a whole tirade of overwhelming emotions as our own Bollywood superdads are jumping the paternity-leave bandwagon.
The youngest royal in our tinsel town, Taimur Ali Khan has already been making news, but his father Saif Ali Khan imploded the news by announcing his paternity leave right after “chhote nawab” was born. Shahid Kapoor however was the one who revolutionised the concept as he turned down the shooting of Padmavati just to stay by his family’s side after the birth of his daughter Misha. They weren’t the only ones though, as actors like Vivek Oberoi and Imran Khan indulged into seeking paternity leaves even when the concept wasn’t quite popular within the Bollywood circle. Shilpa Shetty’s entrepreneur husband Raj Kundra too joined the club of Bollywood superdads who left everything to be with their family out of love and excitement for being new parents.
Justin Timberlake with son Silas
From regular father-children outings to posting adorable photos on Instagram – celebrity dads are out and in the game to be exactly as involved as a mother is deemed to be in raising a newborn. “I still feel so guilty because I couldn’t share those special three months with my wife, right before our daughter was born. Celebrity or not, a father is a father and physically being there through the entire phase is your show of solidarity. It is unfortunate that most people look at celebrity paternity leaves as publicity stunts though, whereas in reality, bringing up a child is equal responsibilities.” believes director KM Chaitanya of the movie Aake fame.
From babymoons to single fatherhood, to paternity leaves — our Bolly-dads are going all the way to defy social norms that have made only the mothers obligated to nurture for their babies. With Tusshar Kapoor and Karan Johan paving the way for single fatherhood in the industry, paternity leaves are just a bonus to revolutionise the scenario!
