Flash Bangs From The Star Stable

It looks like the onset of a refreshing season of pedigreed colts Bollywood may or may not have been waiting for. After being ruled by ageing war horses for many years, the film industry is finally bracing for the invasion by a phalanx of new star kids, backed by many of the old horses themselves.

Emanating a remarkably assured attitude, glimpses of which are already seen in their ‘happening’ social media life, a whole new generation of young actors and actresses is now raring to go, knocking the door of tinsel town in pursuit of success and stardom.

Some of them are being hailed as future B-town superstars even bef­ore their launch, while others are waiting in the wings for the right offer before setting out for their journey. Sara Ali Khan, daughter of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, is all set to make her debut opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in Abhishek Kapoor’s next directorial venture, Kedarnath, which is likely to go on the floors shortly. Sara, who has already acquired quite a reputation as a glamorous fashionista on the filmy party circuit, appears to be the most sought-after of all the newcomers as top-notch film makers are vying with each other to sign her on the dotted line. The young actress was earlier supposed to make her debut in the seq­uel of Karan Johar’s Student of the Year but now, it is Abhishek of Rock On fame who will be introducing her.

Another star daughter who is making waves these days is Jhanvi Kapoor, daughter of veteran actress Sridevi. Johar, who has played Professor Higgins to many an Elizabeth Doolittle in the industry, has already signed her and is expected to launch her soon, most probably in the Hindi remake of Marathi blockbuster Sairat (2016) opp­osite Ishaan Khattar, half-brother of another A-list star, Shahid Kapoor.

Producers are also showing a lot of int­erest in Ananya Pandey, the daughter of Chunky Pandey. The 18-year-old, who is currently undergoing acting training, is expected to be launched by none other than Salman Khan, a good friend of her father.

Like Johar, Salman is also known for giving big breaks to the offspring of his family and friends. In 2010, he had successfully launched Shatrughan Sinha’s ­daughter Sonakshi Sinha in Dabangg and introduced Aditya Pancholi’s son Sooraj Pancholi ­op­p­osite Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya Shetty in Hero (2015), a remake of Subhash Ghai’s 1983-blockbuster of the same name.

Athiya’s brother, Ahaan Shetty, is also about to be launched, in all probability, by producer Sajid Nadiadwala, who had also given big breaks to his father way back in the early 1990s. Sajid had earlier given a break to Jackie Shroff’s son Tiger Shroff as well in Heropanti (2014).

There are many other star children who are set to follow in their parents’ footsteps. Govinda’s son Yash­vardhan, Vinod Mehra’s son Rohan Mehra, Vinod Khanna’s son Sakshi Khanna, Bhag­yashree’s son Abhimanyu Dasani and Mohnish Behl’s daughter Pranutan are all waiting for their trysts with stardom.

But the launch of one star kid that has made everybody sit up and take notice is that of Karan Deol, son of Sunny Deol and grandson of veteran Dharmendra. Karan, a third-generation actor from the Deol stable, has already begun shooting for Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, his launch vehicle being helmed by his father Sunny Deol. Even before he canned the maiden shot of his life, he is learnt to have signed his second project.

All eyes are also riveted on mega star Shah Rukha Khan’s two kids, Aryan and Suhana Khan, as well as Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter Navya Naveli, who are all making their presence felt on the social media. Though they are still too young to make a debut, they are alr­eady being considered ‘hot properties’ by the producers. Suhana’s acting prowess has already been vetted by Shabana Azmi who happened to watch a viral video of her performance in a school play.

But are all these new kids on the block headed for stardom? Will family conn­e­c­tions really prove a ­short-cut to success? “Not ne­c­­essarily,” says film trade exp­ert Atul Mohan. “They all look promising, but we cannot say anything until they deliver. How can we bet on any one of them when we have not seen their ­performance yet?”

The editor of trade magazine Complete Cinema points out that several star sons and daughters came and disappeared after their high-profile launch in the past. “We will have to wait to see as to which Friday (the traditional day of a new film’s rel­ease) gives them stardom.”

Mohan says that the only advantage star kids have in comparison to other newcomers from outside the industry is that their debut movies get a lot of media mileage. “There is always a curiosity whenever any star kid arrives on the scene but his fate and prospect are ultimately decided by his film.”

It’s true. Several stars kids, some of them from the biggest of film dynasties, walked into oblivion after failing to pass muster with the audiences. From Raj Kapoor’s son Rajiv Kapoor and Dev Anand’s son Suneil Anand to Rajendra Kumar’s son Kumar Gaurav and Manoj Kumar’s son Kunal Goswami, there are numerous examples of unsuccessful star kids. Some of them even started off with a bang with a blockbuster or two but could not sustain their success for long. “The initial hype does not necessarily ens­ure a successful career to any star son,” says film publicist Shashikant Singh, who has worked on several campaigns to promote new stars. “Even Abhishek Bachchan, son of Amitabh Bachchan failed to emulate his father’s success.”

Singh says it is the script that matters the most. “The launch of star kids with fanfare may generate a lot of interest but no film runs without a good script. The Baahubali series (2015-17) would have been a mega success even without Prabhas,” he adds.

Singh has a point. Last year, Anil Kapoor’s son Harshvardhan was launched by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra in Mirzya with a lot of publicity, but the film crashlanded at the box office. “A star kid, or for that matter, any actor is as good as the script he gets,” says Bollywood analyst Nitin N. Sethi. “What can a new actor do if he does not get a good script or a good director? Anil Kapoor’s son tried his best to impress in his debut film, but he is not considered a hot property these days because of its commercial failure. In Bollywood, the box office is the ultimate arbiter of an actor’s performance and future.”

Sethi, founder of Boll­ywood portal glamsham.com, says that ­actors are basically director’s act­ors. “Dhar­m­endra used to hide his face whenever he was req­uired to cry in front of camera. That was his limitation as an actor and yet, he gave many blockbusters such as Sholay (1975) bec­ause overall narratives of his films were good,” he said. “If newcomers get good scripts like Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989), they can also excel. After all, even mega star Salman Khan’s Jai Ho (2014) flopped because of a weak script.”

Sethi says among the fresh lot of star kids, Sara looks quite glamorous while Jhanvi, who reminds one of her mother, needs some “polishing”. “As for Karan Deol, nobody knows how he performs before the camera,” he says. “All of them will have to ultimately prove themselves.”

Industry experts, however, believe that the so-called outsiders have done far better than the star kids in recent times. “Look at Ranveer Singh. He is an outsider but he is the real lambi race ka ghoda. Even though he is yet to reach his peak, he is already giving star kids a run for their money. Whatever he has achieved, he has achieved on his own. Similarly, other outsiders like Kriti Sanon are also doing fine,” adds Sethi.

Still, it is not as though all star kids are devoid of talent. Some of them such as Ranbir Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Hrithik Roshan have proved themselves time and again not because of their family background but because of their talent. Such examples ought to instil confidence in the newcomers but they will all have to keep in mind that there is no substitute to talent even in an industry often pilloried for blatantly promoting and ­patronising nepotism at the cost of merit.