Most of us share a love-hate relationship with our pet names. Some of us find them cute, while others abhor them, and celebrities are no exception to this rule. While on one hand, celebs are finding ways to reach out to their fans on social networking sites, on the other, they want to maintain a certain distance.
That probably explains why they don’t want everyone and anyone getting familiar with them using their nicknames. In fact, actors like Govinda (also known as Chi Chi) and Salman Khan (who is called Salman Bhai) have even taken offense to being called by their pet names by people they consider strangers. While the former brushed it off later as a way to test who were his ‘true friends’, the latter reportedly did not take too kindly to being called Salman Bhai by a popular RJ during a radio interview, back in 2009. Salman is said to have coldly directed the RJ to call him Salman Khan, saying, “Call me Salman Khan.” The RJ later explained that the actor does not like the fact that strangers also call him Salman Bhai and it was only when the RJ mentioned that he looked up to him like his elder brother, did the actor relent.
Another actor, who loathes his pet name is Rishi Kapoor. The actor who hated being called Chintu by all and sundry, took a vow that he would never give pet names to his kids that could embarrass them in the future. In an earlier interview, he went on record to say, “I hate being called Chintu, there will be no Pintus and Mintus when I have kids.”
The actor stuck to his guns and made sure that his kids — Riddhima and Ranbir did not have any short forms or pet names that would make them turn red in the face.
More recently, actor Hrithik Roshan, who is also called Duggu, by his close friends and family, probably in an attempt to change that shared this interesting titbit of information about how his fans prefer calling him HRO. However, not everyone minds, actress, Bipasha Basu, loves her pet name, and says, “Bonnie is my pet name. I was born a bonnie baby, round plump and healthy so my name is Bonnie! Media and fans call me Bips! By far I think I have maximum nicknames! Most people have nicknames for me; Bippy, Bipsy, B, Bip, BB, Bipshaw, Bhopu, Basu, Baby Basu, Bona, Beeps! Even though I have a beautiful name Bipasha! Nicknames are out of affection so I am not complaining.”
Here’s looking at some of the most interesting and quirky pet names that Bollywood celebs go by Priyanka Chopra The actor has two pet names. Her parents called her Mimi, after French actress Mimi Rogers. Her original pet name was Mithu. However, since she couldn’t pronounce it as a child, she would introduce herself as Mimi. In school, the actor was called Sunshine. Actor Abhishek Bachchan gave her a new pet name, Piggy Chops that has managed to stick with her. Ranbir Kapoor Actor Ranbir Kapoor’s mother Neetu Singh Kapoor refers to her son as Raymond. Why Raymond? An insider says, “Neetu thinks that Ranbir is a complete man. She even voiced this on a talk show saying that after God made Ranbir, he broke the mould.” Sonam Kapoor in an earlier interview admitted that she is called Giraffe by her dad, Anil because of her height Shilpa Shetty Her pet name is ‘Manya’ but her mom calls her ‘babucha or Honeybunch Karisma Kapur apparently got her name from her dad because her mom liked the Italian actor Gina Lollobrigidia and Kareena Kapoor is known as Bebo. Ajay Devgn While his parents call him Raju, Kajol calls him J.
