Sabeer Bhatia Shares Anecdote on Bollywood Star Worship

5:13 AM ETDeveloping

Entertainment Desk

In Short: Entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia, known for co-founding Hotmail, shared an anecdote on X (formerly Twitter) about a gathering he hosted decades ago where a Bollywood actress was a guest.

Entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia, known for co-founding Hotmail, shared an anecdote on X (formerly Twitter) about a gathering he hosted decades ago where a Bollywood actress was a guest.

Midway through the evening, one of the wait staff recognized the actress and bowed down to touch her feet, leaving other guests, including Americans, bewildered.

Bhatia explained that the incident highlighted the deep-rooted 'celebrity worship' in Indian culture, which can seem incomprehensible to outsiders.

One Twitter user noted, 'Such behaviors are one of the biggest reasons India can never grow — when people look down or up upon each other, there is always a master & servant. Such a society is doomed.'

Bhatia refrained from revealing the identity of the actress to respect her privacy.

The anecdote underscores the complex interplay of cultural norms and social hierarchies in India, where celebrity worship is globally renowned.

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Upon seeing her, he said that one of the Indian waitstaff bowed down and even touched her feet, much to the shock of others, who were left wondering why he did that.
Indians’ obsession with cinema and film stars is globally famous.
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He immediately put down his tray, bent all the way down, and touched her feet.
Celebrity worship is so deeply embedded in our culture that what seems completely normal to one person can look incomprehensible to someone outside it.

Sources

The Indian Expresslink