Sheetal

My body is my journal, and my tattoos are my story. —Johnny Depp

The Hollywood actor is known for his tattoos, as much as for his acting and legal battles. While the trials of his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard are still on, we sure hope to see a tattoo that sums up that story! Artistes from across the world have often taken the tattoo route to express or preserve a memory or surprise their loved ones. We take a look at some celebs who got inked recently and what ‘tattoo trends’ have caught their attention the most.

Emotional angle

Global star Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Daddy lil girl’ highlighted that getting inked for life is the biggest gift one can give to the people one is emotionally connected to. Priyanka also got two new tattoos in the summer of 2021; while one is a tattoo of paws on her right ankle, dedicated to her pet dogs, Diana, Gino and Panda, the other is that of a world map on her left arm, signifying her wanderlust.

Big Boss-fame Afsana Khan and her husband Saajz got themselves inked together and chose the word ‘blessed’, as Afsana believes she has got everything she dreamt of!

Shibani Dandekar, had on her birthday last year in August, got her beau Farhan Akhtar’s name tattooed on her neck. After her marriage in February, she got a tattoo of the wedding date made on her arm.

B-town circle

In Bollywood, Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Kareena’ tattoo and Deepika Padukone’s then boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor’s initials on her nape were quite popular. Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn also jumped in the bandwagon as they inked their children’s names. Akshay also got his wife, Twinkle’s nickname, Tina, inked on his shoulder.

The latest is Rohanpreet’s Valentine’s Day gift to his wife, singer Neha Kakkar, which is a tattoo on his left forearm. The singer got it done from Pardeep Singh, a tattoo artist from Chandigarh, as they were shooting closer to home around that time. Pardeep designed the tattoo that reads ‘Nehu’s man’. He has also made the tattoos of Saajz and Afsana Khan. A pass-out from Government College of Art, Chandigarh, the 26-year-old says, “People change their perception about a new artist once a celeb gets inked by them. I enjoy making portrait tattoos. I also reworked MTV Roadies-fame Prince Narula’s tattoo recently.”

For dear daughter

“I’m going to get my daughter’s name tattooed on my back very soon. I already love the ‘anchor’ tattoo on my arm. My mom always use to say ‘Ginnie ko samander me bhi agar fenk do, toh woh kinara dhoond hee legi anchor ki tarah’. It was the first tattoo of my life.” — Ginni Virdi, Actor

Divine feeling

I always wanted to get a permanent tattoo, but was not sure. I wanted a Lord Shiva symbol, as I worship him. So I selected a Shiva Trishul and asked the tattoo artist to add Durga’s eyes with red round bindi to it. I call Shivshakti tattoo and I got it done on my father’s birthday. — Shivani Gosain, Actor

Childhood passion

In filmy terms, my first tattoo could have a sequel. I was always fascinated with tattoos while growing up. Saw them on Hollywood actors, so I always wanted to get at least one. When getting inked started becoming a rage in India, I just knew I had to get one. I have two tattoos now. — Hemant Chaddha, actor