A star kid's entry into Bollywood is generally on greased rails and decades on, nothing's changed
A star kid's entry into Bollywood is generally on greased rails and decades on, nothing's changed
This week, young Luv Sinha makes his film debut with Sadiyaan; and perpetuates a film custom that has been going on almost for sadiyan -- most people born in an actor's family will eventually give acting a shot. Whether they fail or succeed, they will almost bust a gut trying at least.
I was born to a businessman and became a film journalist; but an actor's son, even if (s)he has studied in prestigious foreign universities, veers towards the silver screen. There's something about the glamour world that irresistibly lures those who have grown up inside its charmed inner circle. And getting a break in a leading role is much easier for someone who boasts of a filmi lineage than it is for your average Joe.
Father figure
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Luv Sinha with father Shatrughan |
Luv is the eldest son of outspoken 70s star Shatrughan Sinha and pretty Poonam, who did a few films in the 60s, including Jigri Dost, as Jeetendra's heroine. While the youngster's introduction to films has been puzzlingly low-key, it's undoubtedly because of his star parentage. Luv's sister Sonakshi too has bagged a major launch pad -- she plays Salman Khan's heroine in Dabangg.
The influence of the 'family' has become increasingly pervasive today in Bollywood. Enough film progeny have succeeded to encourage fresh legions of star kids to have a go at films. After all, today's newest stars have one thing in common -- they all come from film families -- think Ranbir (Kapoor), Imran (Khan), Neil (Nitin Mukesh), Abhay (Deol). In fact, most of the top drawer talent from the earlier generation too have films in their DNA and celluloid caking their veins -- Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Saif (Ali Khan), Abhishek Bachchan, Shahid Kapur, Fardeen Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Hrithik Roshan are all descendents of film folk.
In a corporate age, when valuations are everything, coming from a film family is definitely a value addition. It's not a new phenomenon. In fact, for several decades now, the children of most major stars have treated films like a family business; and it's heartening to note that even the ladies have been pioneers in this area.
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Female powerFour legendary heroines of the 50s -- Nargis, Nimmi, Vyjayanthimala and Nutan -- were among the earliest examples of star kids who followed their mothers to the studios. Nargis's mother Jaddanbai was a famous actress-filmmaker of the 1930s and Nargis made her debut as a child star alongside her mother in Talash-e-Haq. Nimmi's mother Wahidan had acted in Mehboob Khan's Alibaba. Vyjayanthimala's mother, Vasundhara Devi, was the lead star of the ground-breaking Tamil blockbuster Mangamma Sapatham of 1943. And Nutan's mother, Shobhana Samarth, was the heroine of the resoundingly successful Ram Rajyya in 1943. These star daughters grew up cinema literate and were well-versed in the ways of the film world; and this fuelled their rise to become the reigning queens of the day. Post stardom, they inspired further celluloid dreams in their own families. Nargis' niece Zaheeda too bagged major productions like Prem Pujari and Gambler. Vyjayanthimala's son Suchindra tried his luck recently, albeit without much success, in a Nana Patekar-starrer. And while Nutan had been inspired by Shobhana and cousin Nalini Jaywant, she inspired sister Tanuja, son Mohnish Bahl and nieces Kajol and Tanisha.u00a0u00a0
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The grand old man of Hindi films, Ashok Kumar, enjoyed tremendous success as a hero from the 30s to the 50s. Probably propelled by this, Ashok Kumar's brothers, Kishore and Anoop, followed him into films in the 1950s. Few people remember that Ashok Kumar's son Anoop too dabbled with the greasepaint in Bezubaan (1962). Much later, his daughter Preeti Ganguly enjoyed a spurt of popularity as a comedienne in the 1970s, while elder daughter Bharati had a running role in the hit TV serial Saans. Kishore Kumar's son, Amit Kumar, too dabbled in acting in Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein as a child and in Shabhash Daddy as a youth. The latter had him mock admonishing his father in the priceless: 'Daddy yeh tumne kya kiya u2026 karne chale the shaadi meri; khud ban baithe dulha'.
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I remember Pradeep Kumar's daughter Beena playing Anil Kapoor's first heroine in Rachna; though thereafter she settled down to numerous character roles. Fellow 50s star Balraj Sahni's son Parikshit too didn't become a star but he has proved his credentials with over three decades of regular work in films and TV. Actor Ayub Khan is Dilip Kumar's actor brother Nasir Khan's son. Dev Anand's son, Suneil (Anand Hi Anand) and Premnath's son, Prem Kishenu00a0 (Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye) also made attempts but in vain.
Seven decades of Kapoors
Impressively, there has been a Kapoor who has been a leading Bollywood star in every decade since the 1940s. Patriarch Prithviraj Kapoor was a major star of the 40s -- Sikandar, Phool -- while in the 1950s, his elder son Raj Kapoor sprang to the vanguard with younger son Shammi also joining up in the latter part of the decade. Youngest brother Shashi too bit the acting bait in the 1960s; and the Kapoor khandan reached its peak. Three brothers; three major stars at the same time.
In the 1970s, Shashi remained a saleable star while nephews Randhir and Rishi were enthused to joinu00a0 as actors and swell the ranks. Rishi remained a star through the 1980s and for the first half of the 1990s when he was joined by his niece, Randhir and Babita's daughter, Karisma Kapoor. In the noughties (2000-2009) Kareena and Ranbir have enrolled into the family profession and kept the Kapoor pennant flying high.u00a0
It seems evident that when you grow up in the ambience of a film family, you have a head start; perhaps because you are fully aware of the ground realities of the film industry. Even those who seem to have taken up acting more as a dilettante -- Shashi's children, Karan, Kunal, Sanjana, and Shammi's son Mickey -- find the temptation too hard to resist.u00a0u00a0
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Outsiders no more
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Twinkle Khanna with Bobby Deol in Barsaat |
Titans such as Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Dharmendra, Manoj Kumar, Feroz Khan, Jeetendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna struggled in Bollywood because their families had no connection with films. But their scions -- Kumar Gaurav, Sanjay Dutt, Puru Raajkumar, Sunny and Bobby Deol, Kunal Goswami, Fardeen Khan, Tusshar, Abhishek Bachchan and Rahul and Akshaye Khanna -- approached films with a more assured and 'acting in my genes' attitude.
While most film stars of yore kept their daughters away from films, renowned actor-filmmaker V Shantaram introduced his daughter Rajshree in style with Geet Gaaya Patthraron Ne (1964). He seemed to inspire other 60s directors too. Vasant Joglekar and Kishore Sahu, ambitiously launched their daughters, Meera Joglekar and Naina Sahu in heroine-oriented roles in Ek Kali Muskayee and Kaaanch Ki Chudiyan respectively. The ploy didn't play out, though in the latter, Naina Sahu played a defiant unwed mother much before Preity Zinta in Kya Kehna.u00a0u00a0
Rajesh Khanna's daughters Twinkle and Rinky had rather half-hearted affairs with cinema. Twinkle did films with Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman but finally preferred romancing Akshay Kumar at home. But the desire to at least dabble in films springs eternal among those connected to the stars. Dimple's sister Simple too tried her hand at acting and was cast opposite bro-in-law Rajesh Khanna in Anurodh.
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Mala Sinha with daughter Pratibha |
Heroines And Heir-style Not just the heirs of major male stars, but even offsprings of female stars have tried to inherit the glory -- Mala Sinha's daughter Pratibha (who started off opposite Joy Mukherjee's son Toy), Sharmila's son Saif and daughter Soha, Babita's daughters Karisma and Kareena, Ameeta's (actor of Tumsa Nahi Dekha from the 50s) daughter Sabeeha, Hema Malini's daughter Esha, Moushumi Chatterjee's daughter Megha and Sarika's daughter Shruti. Waheeda and Mumtaz are rare examples of stars whose children have kept away from all things cinema.
I have never seen Waheeda Rehman's son and daughter even at a premiere or a party, leave alone in the studios.
For the rest, it's a potent mix of passion for films and the availability of an easy platform for their dreams. Never mind that many of their predecessors have failed, For every Hrithik, Kareena, Abhishek, Ranbir, there is a star son/daughter who flashes in the skies like a shooting star, enjoys a brief moment of luminosity and gets engulfed in pitch darkness.
New pack
The tribe keeps increasing. Anil Kapoor's daughter Sonam, Mithun's son Mimoh, Aparna Sen's daughter Konkona, Raj Babbar's children Arya, Prateik, Juhi, Naseer's son Imaad, Vinod Mehra's daughter Sonia.u00a0u00a0
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Prateik Babbar, a star kid who made his debut in 2008 with Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na will next be seen in Dhobi Ghat |
And it's not just children or siblings of actors; the progeny of anyone with a film industry connection -- director's son (Harman Baweja), playback singers' sons (Aditya Narayan and Neil Nitin Mukesh) producer's son (Jackie Bhagnani), action director's son (Ajay Devgn) -- are drawn to the industry. If it's not acting, they veer towards some other cinematic department. At times, it feels as though Bollywood is in danger of becoming a hermetically sealed club that bangs its doors shut on outsiders. Of course, there are exceptions -- megastars Shah Rukh and Akshay are the most notable, but the sheer numbers of the insiders are fascinating.u00a0u00a0
Even as I type this, yesteryear actress Zaheeda's son, and Sanjay Dutt's cousin, Nilesh Sahay, is sweating it out in the studios for his debut film, Angel, hoping to muscle his way in.u00a0 It will be the fourth generation to enter films in his family.
Pratibha Sinha worked in films like Deewana Mastana, Gudgudee and Tu Chor Main Sipahi. She also made a special appearance in the song, Pardesi from Raja HindustaniVinod khanna's son, Rahul Khanna, made his Hindi film debut with 1947 Earth, while brother Akshaye, entered the movies with Himalayaputra
