What’s in a celeb kid’s name: Divine, different

SAMISHA ANAYRA MAISIL VAMIKA

The year 2020 saw a number of celebrities welcoming new members in their family. And the good news spilled over to 2021 as well, with actor Anushka Sharma and cricketer Virat Kohli welcoming their bundle of joy late last month. The couple recently revealed they’ve named their daughter Vamika, triggering a search by netizens for the meaning of this unique name. So what do parents have in mind while choosing a name for their newborn? Dr Acharya Vinod Kumar, Vedic and celebrity astrologer, says ‘rare’ is now common. “Clients usually prefer names of Goddess Durga or Lakshmi, for daughters, and Lord Shiva, Vishnu, or even Lord Kartikeya, for sons,” he shares.

Here are some beautiful names celebrities have given their kids born since 2020:

The daughter of actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra and businessman Raj Kundra, ‘Sa’ in Sanskrit means ‘to have’, while ‘Misha’ in Russian stands for ‘someone like God’, according to the actor. In other words it spells prosperity.

The name of the daughter of actor-comedian Kapil Sharma and his wife Ginni Chatrath, this word, which is of Sanskrit origin, means joy or a symbol of happiness. It is also one of the names of Goddess Lakshmi.

Actor Freddy Daruwala chose unique names for both his sons. While Evaan, born in 2019, means gracious gift of God, Maisil, born in 2020, is a name of Persian origin, and means a warrior.

The name of Anushka and Virat’s daughter, born on January 11 this year, Vamika is a name for Goddess Durga. It is the name of the female half of Ardhanarishwar, a composite form of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Theatre artiste, actor, anchor, Rajeev Bhardwaj feels that the love and recognition his characters have garnered over the years is his biggest reward.

The Meerut born performer has been part of a number of films like ‘Mulk’,‘Super Nani’, ‘Lupt,’ ‘Traffic Signal’, and shows like ‘Bharat Ka Veer Putra-Maharana Pratap’, ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ and ‘Kulfi Kumaar’.

“When my audiences praise my choice of roles and subjects it makes me content. It’s so rewarding to receive love and recognition from viewers. Many of my characters like the one I played in ‘Kulfi…’ made me find fans abroad. Actually, this is what we actors work for: to entertain our fans and to get love in return,” said the ‘Devon ke Dev…Mahadev’ actor during a recent visit to Dehradun.

Bhardwaj is a qualified computer engineer who left his corporate job to try his luck in acting. Talking about his journey, he said, “After being in the corporate world for a couple of years, I decided to enter the entertainment field, though becoming a professional actor was never in my mind. I started as a dubbing artist then a radio jockey and entered the TV industry with the hit daily ‘CID’ and then numerous mythological shows happened along with theatre and films.”

Currently he is being seen as Laali Rani on TV. Bhardwaj said it was truly challenging to play the role of a man who loves to dress up like a woman. “When I was offered this role for the show ‘Aye Mere Humsafar,’ I was in two minds but when I accepted it, I fell in love with the character. And trust me, my respect and admiration for women has grown manifold,” said Bhardwaj, who will also be seen doing an army officer’s role for a web series..