Lockdown diaries: With Bollywood actors at home, what’s their entourage up to? We find out

Salman Khan’s bodyguard, Deepika Padukone’s makeup artist, Alia Bhatt’s stylist and a many others... we speak to some of the popular celebrity entourage and find out how they are holding up during this quarantine period at home.

Bollywood is perhaps being upended the most by the whole Covid-19 crisis and the subsequent nationwide lockdown, which will continue till May 3. While celebrities are keeping themselves busy sharing tidbits about their daily lives on social media, we wonder what their entourage and staff members, who are always on the go, are doing during this period.

Shera has been actor Salman Khan’s bodyguard for over two decades now.

Salman Khan’s bodyguard, Shera, a celebrity in his own right, says,“He (Salman) is with his family at his farmhouse (Panvel), and I am taking care of my family here (Mumbai). Everything is arranged, koi tension nahi hai. There is proper security, no one can enter the gate,” he shares.

On whether he’s finding this time away from Bhai a bit strange, he says, “This is not the time to miss those busy days, but to actually take care of your loved ones, be at home with them. Yeh waqt kisko milta hai guzaarne ka? Ghar mein rahiye.”

Alia Bhatt’s hairstylist Priyanka Borkar, meanwhile, admits that things have been a bit difficult being home for so long and not doing any work for the past many days. “I have some saving, so that is working right now. I did an independent job in February and March but I haven’t got paid because of the situation. Those things are tough. My mum runs a salon, so I have to take care of salon rent, paying salary to my employees besides a house loan. It is going to be tough if it goes on for two three months,” she shares.

But the actor’s are doing their bit in making the life of their team easier. Ileana D’Cruz’s personal assistant shares how the actor has been taking care of him and others even during this lockdown.

“Madam is at her home, and I’m at mine. Money is not a problem as she has already given me sufficient amount to sustain the next few months. She has asked me to not step out of the house and told me to contact her for anything that I might need,” says Chandan Singh.

Shera also echoes similar sentiment sharing how he is connected with Salman all day. Anil Kapoor’s manager Jalal Mortezai reveals that the actor made sure that his entire staff had the essentials before the lockdown was implemented. “AK is an amazing person, and it’s more than a working relationship when it comes to both of us. Luckily for us, we realised this situation a little earlier, and he got sanitisers and mass for the whole team and his company,” he says.

Deepika Padukone’s makeup artist Sandhya Shekar reveals that the actor cancelled her Paris trip owing to the crisis, but her priority was the safety of her team which was to travel with her.

“As a team we saw the situation and we have been discussing about it. She had many important work scheduled for this period but as a team we took a call to cancel everything,” Sandhya shares, adding that she is making the most of this forced break, “just relaxing a bit”.

Jalal also quips how he is enjoying my family time. “I have a two-year-old at home, so I get to spend more time with my children. I will be in denial if I say I don’t miss the field work. But it’s a good opportunity to be online and read the backlog of work,” he adds.

Taapsee Pannu’s stylist Devki does miss the busy days that used tobe before the lockdown, but it isn’t as if work has totally stopped. “I have my own fashion PR too, so I have that running to thankfully keep me sane! Of course, I am missing the day-to-day rush of styling her… that last minute running around, thinking ‘where are we supposed to get the earrings or shoes from?’! Hope it all goes back to normal,” she shares.