Entertainment | Film & Cinema
Never ending saga of star kids
The Kapoors, Khans and Roshans are some of the well-known families who have built dynasties over the decades in Bollywood.
- By Abdulla Mahmood, Gulf News Report
- Published: 00:06 June 15, 2008
- Harman Baweja, son of filmmaker Harry Baweja, will be making his debut in Love Story 2050.
- Image Credit: Reuters
The Kapoors, Khans and Roshans are some of the well-known families who have built dynasties over the decades in Bollywood. Star kids are born with a silver spoon and are merely expected to fill in the vacuum left by their retiring parents, who have a built-in fan base that will be passed on to their kids. But Bollywood also has stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai, who broke the shackles of star kids' dominance and made it to the top on their own.
The saga of star children started in the '40s, when Raj Kapoor made his foray into films with the help of his father, Prithviraj Kapoor, a popular star of his day. After Raj Kapoor established himself as Bollywood's ultimate showman, his sons, Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv Kapoor entered films as third- generation actors in the '70s and '80s. Karisma Kapoor, daughter of Randhir, made her debut in Prem Qaidi (1991), announcing the arrival of fourth generation of Kapoor family in Bollywood. Since then the rise of the Kapoors has continued with the emergence of current superstar Kareena Kapoor (daughter of Randhir) and Bollywood's latest heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor (son of Rishi). The Kapoors are easily the longest and most successful film family in Bollywood.
In the '80s, the second generation of star sons, Sunny Deol (son of Dharmendra) Sanjay Dutt (son of Sunil Dutt) and Kumar Gaurav (son of Rajendra Kumar) was successfully launched amid a lot of fanfare. Sunny and Sanjay have been successful for the last two decades while Gaurav's career was short-lived. Actors like Govinda, Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgan were also lucky to have their parents in Bollywood to get a headstart in their career. Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan also didn't have to try hard to make their mark as they were the sons of well-known Bollywood personalities. Besides actors, musicians such as R.D. Burman and Anu Malik owe their success to their musician-fathers, S.D. Burman and Sardar Malik.
Stepping into father's shoes
Sons of filmmakers also had to just step into their fathers' shoes and continue making films, as in the case of Aditya Chopra (son of Yash Chopra), Karan Johar (son of Yash Johar) and Rohan Sippy (son of Ramesh Sippy).
Yet only a handful of these star children have made a mark. While Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar were successful, Fardeen Khan (son of Feroz Khan), Zayed Khan (son of Sanjay Khan, Esha Deol (daughter of Hema Malini and Dharmendra), Tusshar Kapoor (son of Jeetendra) and Vivek Oberoi (son of Suresh Oberoi) are still struggling to break into the big league.
Since last year there has been a sudden spur in the next generation joining Bollywood. Stars such as Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Neil Nitin Mukesh have received a warm response while Sonya Mehra, Gautam Gupta and Mimoh Chakraborty were given the cold shoulder by the audience.
Recently Sikander Kher made his debut in Woodstock Villa, followed by Mashhoor Amrohi (grandson of filmmaker Kamaal Amrohi) in Humsey Hain Jahaan. Soon Haal-E-Dil will see the launch of Adhyayan Suman (son of Shekhar Suman) opposite Amitha Pathak (daughter of producer Kumar Mangat). This will be followed by the much-hyped clash between Imran Khan, nephew of Aamir Khan, and Harman Baweja, son of filmmaker Harry Baweja, making their debut in Jaane Tu Jaane Na and Love Story 2050 respectively. With fans of both Khan and Baweja already debating who is better, star kids are fighting each other to make their presence felt in the cut-throat Bollywood industry.
Share this article
Related Articles
-
Keeping it in the Family
Keeping it in the Family
More from Film & Cinema
Covering everything from entertainment and lifestyle daily
Popular in Film & Cinema
Entertainment Editor's choice
-
Bollywood celebwatch
A look at Bollywood's best and brightest stars in action
-
tabloid!'s favourite disaster movies
Ahead of new blockbuster 2012, check out tabloid!'s pick of the best disaster films
-
Arts & Entertainment
Bollywood Celebwatch
What have Bollywood's brightest been up to?
