News about the Coronavirus vaccine roll out and ‘leaked’ WhatsApp chats can wait. A big the-nation-wants-to-know question has been rocking the trend charts this past week. “Have Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma named their baby Anvi?” Time will tell, or maybe the paps will — in case the parents don’t — but in the meantime the much-anticipated baby girl delivered unto people two Mondays ago has sent the Internet into a tizzy with at least thirty fan pages dedicated to ‘Anvi Kohli’, and even a few theories on the numerology and significance of the name on social networking sites.

In the world of social media and online news, star offspring are now more keenly followed than their celebrity parents. And in the case of a power couple like India’s cricket captain Virat Kohli and Bollywood’s leading actor-producer Anushka Sharma, their infant is not just blessed with two sets of celebrity genes but double the tabloid curiosity.

Never wanting for luxury or fame but wanting for privacy and getting none drove this celeb-couple-turned-parents to bring a new tactic to the fight. Something that the paps did not see coming. A luxury gift hamper from Anushka and Virat arrived at their doorstep last week stuffed with gourmet sweets, scented candles and a personalised note ‘to kindly not take or carry any content that has our child’ in what was clearly a desperate cry for privacy.

This made entertainment photographer Manav Manglani call off the chase. “We were waiting eagerly for Anushka and Virat’s newborn but after we received their request, I moved my men out of the hospital and from their house,” says Manglani. Drawing an ethical line and abiding by this plea wasn’t easy for this paparazzo known for pushing boundaries, quite literally. He and his team have furiously climbed walls to capture images of Taimur Ali Khan in his outfit of the day — swimming trunks and arm floaties — splashing about in a pool with daddy Saif Ali Khan.

So who are these tiny A-listers who could one day star in ‘The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Kids’? Apart from Karan Johar’s twins Yash and Roohi, these include Aaradhya (Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan’s daughter), AbRam (Shah Rukh Khan’s son), Inaaya Khemu (Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu’s daughter), Misha and Zain (Shahid and Mira Kapoor’s children), Ziva (Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s daughter), Riaan and Rahyl (Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh’s sons).

With a count of about ten lakh followers, or maybe more (and at least 50 fan pages ranging from ‘Taimurholics’ and ‘Taimurgalaxy’ to one dedicated to his ‘supernanny’ Savitri and another that uses Taimur’s pictures to draw attention to pressing issues in the country!) — Taimur is the undisputed ruler of the baby celebrity fan game. Since his birth in 2016, the toddler has been constantly broadcast into people’s phones with fans going bonkers over “cutie pie Tim-Tim’’ smashing his face into an ice-cream cone or waddling down the street, squealing ‘no photos’. Things took a bizarre turn when he even landed on a toy store shelf as a doll for sale.

In 2018, Kareena had opened up about the media attention that Taimur gets. “I do not like the fact that every day, Taimur’s moves are being monitored,” she said, adding that she did not know how to put an end to it. And then added that Taimur was “kind of getting used to” being a paparazzi favourite. “Of late, he has started posing,” she laughed.

Lensman Yogen Shah calls Taimur “the new Murphy boy” — the chubby cheeked mascot of Murphy Radios and poster baby for expecting mothers in the ‘70s. “Taimur was the first time that a star kid came prominently in view and people’s affection for Taimur grew into an addiction with every picture we shot. People then wanted to see more star kids,” says Shah.

Shah, who has lived through the heyday of paparazzi photography, says the craze for pictures of star kids is both the cause and effect of online culture and a legion of entertainment portals. “The constant need to generate content led to trends like airport look and the gym look.” And then, along came the babies and eclipsed all those stars emerging from a workout or flight.

At a time when no week goes by in which the Internet isn’t treated to snapshots of these mini celebrities in onesies, hanging from their nanny’s lap or strutting into birthday parties, there seem to be multiple schools of thought that dictate how celebrity parents keep up/cope with this phenomenon. “Some celebrities are okay with their kids being celebrated because it brings positivity to their image especially if their careers or lives have been fraught with trouble. There are parents who fear ‘nazar’ and, therefore, duck for cover, and then there are those who don’t mind their kid being clicked on special occasions but not chased daily,” says photographer Viral Bhayani.

There’s a reason these photos are popular, says child psychiatrist Harish Shetty. “These images mark a shift from endless stories about love affairs and scandals and reinforces the idea of fidelity, child bearing and parenting. It helps people feel closer to an ideal,” he says. The paps agree. “In the last two years, pictures of a barebodied hero or a glamorous actress don’t fetch the kind of likes and comments we get for family pictures of stars walking, feeding or even towelling their kids.”

But to what extent can this intense media spotlight affect these children? “There is a risk of the child ending up arrogant or frustrated. The onus is on parents and teachers to maintain a balance in their interpersonal relationships and avoid giving them a free hand in everything,” says Swati Popat Vats, president of the Early Childhood Association. “As long as the child has regular friends to interact with, is exposed to the larger society and not isolated to a select circle, they will learn to navigate this attention and adulation,” adds Shetty.

And though legally in India, it’s not yet a crime to zoom into Inaya’s eyes or investigate Taimur’s French fries or review AbRam’s dance at his annual school function, calls from harried and pregnant celeb parents are driving some paparazzi to take a concerted step back. “There’s a need to discipline ourselves and not break laws or put them or ourselves in danger for a shot,” says Shah, recalling the time he was jolted into realisation when a bike-borne photographer chased a pregnant Kareena Kapoor around Bandra. “Also, Coronavirus has taught us the importance of not crossing our limits,” says Bhayani. Well, there’s nothing worse than getting cancelled by knee-high celebrities learning to dodge cameras before they learn their ABCs.