SSR’S Death: Do Star Kids Really Have It Easy?
Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has raised another question – Do star kids have it easy? Read our article to find out!
After the love we have received for the last two articles based on SSR’s issue, we couldn’t help but write another article to make our stand clearer.
Star Kids Do Have It Easy In Many Ways
Being a star kid means you will get attention from the media, fans & Bollywood from a very young age. If your parent or both parents are big-shots, then you will grow up bumping into other Bollywood big-shots at your parties. Your friends will go on to become directors or producers or studio bosses, which will help you get an edge when it comes to bagging projects. Your network will consist of other rich kids & children of Bollywood biggies. Your parent is likely to send you to an acting school in the US or put in a word to an acting coach in India to train you well. He will also spend millions on cosmetic surgeries to give you that edge.
The moment you are ready for your entry into Bollywood, your parent will produce & or direct a movie for you. If not then they will call one of their industry friends & request them to give you a screen test/audition. This uncle/aunt of yours will consciously or subconsciously favor you over others who have come for the audition. If your parent is really powerful, you won’t even be required to give a screen test. Your parent is likely to even bitch about the outsider who is also in contention for the role & influence your uncle/aunt’s decision.
All Star Kids Are Successful
But are all star kids successful? To answer this question, let’s analyze all the major film families of Bollywood.
The Kapoors
The Kapoor is the first family of Bollywood if you go by their years of existence in the industry. The first Kapoor to make an entry into the industry, was Prithviraj Kapoor. Prithviraj Kapoor entered the industry when there was barely any competition & Bollywood was considered to be a financially unsafe profession. His son – Raj Kapoor then got a break as a leading man in the movies & became a star. He put every penny he earned into his studio – R.K Studios in the then far-flung suburb of Chembur. Raj Kapoor was a superstar who ruled Bollywood along with Dev Anand & Dilip Kumar. Raj Kapoor was bankrupt after Mera Naam Joker & recovered only after Bobby. Out of his three sons – Randhir, Rishi & Rajeev – only Rishi had a long & successful career. Randhir & Rajiv’s career ended after just a few years of success. Rishi Kapoor’s son – Ranbir is the only successful 4th generation male superstar of Bollywood. Both of Randhir’s daughters – Karisma & Kareena have been top stars.
Raj Kapoor’s brothers – Shashi & Shammi too were very successful. None of their kids have been able to make a mark in Bollywood.
The Bachchans
Amitabh Bachchan’s family knew Sunil Dutt, the then PM Indira Gandhi. This did help him land a few roles. But he was a flop star initially. He married the then hugely successful actress – Jaya Bahaduri. It was only post their marriage that Mr. Bachchan became the hugely successful star that we know today. Mr. Bachchan too was bankrupt at the age of 60. He rose from his proverbial ashes & gained back his wealth & some more.
Their son – Abhishek Bachchan debuted in Refugee opposite Kareena Kapoor. He was a flop star until 2004. From 2004-07 Abhishek Bachchan gave a string of hits including Guru opposite his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Abhishek bagged movies from both Dharma & YRF. But after his movies started flopping one after the other, top producers stopped offering lead roles to him. he is now seen in supporting roles in major productions. Despite starring in several hits Abhishek is considered to be a failure, as he is always compared to his super achiever father.
His family’s clout & network, leads to him still bagging movies, but he is still trolled for being a failure. Bollywood outsiders who have achieved a lot lesser than him have never been labeled as ‘failures’.
The Sinhas
Shatrughan Sinha was a complete outsider when he entered Bollywood. He has three kids – Luv, Kush & Sonakshi. All of his kids are now considered to be flop actors. While Sonakshi starred in several hits in male-dominated movies, all her movies in the past few years have been flops. Luv & Kush have not been seen in any movies after debut films flopped.
The Babbars
Raj Babbar has had two wives – Nadira & the late Smita Patil. Out of the three kids, none of them have been successful at the movies. While his second son – Prateik Babbar showed promise initially, he too is relegated to playing supporting characters in movies.
The Hussains
Aamir Khan is the most well known celeb from the Hussain household. Aamir’s uncle & father have produced several hit Bollywood films right from the 60’s. Some of their hit films include Teesri Manzil, Yaadon Ki Baarat etc. Aamir too was launched by his family’s production house in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
Aamir Khan is the only successful celeb in his family. His brother Faisal Khan had a failed career in Bollywood. his nephew – Imran Khan had a successful debut, after which he was cast by Dharma in a hit film. But after a string of flops, his career ended abruptly. He has since been suffering from depression & even his marriage is on the rocks.
The Kapoors(Surinder)
Producer Surinder Kapoor had three sons – Boney, Anil & Sanjay. Boney was a successful producer. Anil was a superstar, but Sanjay Kapoor career flopped after 1-2 hits. He was considered to be a flop actor.
Boney Kapoor’s son – Arjun Kapoor is now a flop actor, after starring in several hits at the start of his career. Sonam Kapoor has only two hits which she can claim – Neerja & Khoobsurat, all the other movies were hits thanks to the presence of big male superstar or other top female stars. Nobody thinks of Sonam as a great actor. She is known more for her opinions on social media & for her fashion sense. She doesn’t have any movies in hand. Harshvardhan Kapoor is a flop actor too. All his movies have been major flops. His father is hoping the Abhinav Bindra biopic helps his career.
The most successful celeb in the Kapoor family tree is in fact Ranveer Singh. He is way more successful despite his parents having lesser clout in Bollywood as compared to Anil or Boney.
The Khans
Out of Salim Khan’s three sons – Salman, Sohail & Arbaaz, only Salman is successful. All the other members in the family literally live off Salman. They produce his movies or direct them or both & live off the profits. Salman’s brother-in-law Aayush Sharma too is a flop actor.
The Mukherjee’s
Out of all the celebs in the Mukherjee-Ganguly clan(which is also a claimant to the 1st family of Bollywood title)Kajol, Rani Mukherjee & Ayaan Mukherjee have been successful. Kajol’s sister – Tanisha was a flop actor & so was their cousin Sharbani Mukherjee.
The Two Khannas
Both of superstar Rajesh Khanna’s daughters – Twinkle & drink were flop actors. Twinkle is known more for being superstar Akshay Kumar’s wife & for her column in a reputed newspaper.
Out of Vinod Khanna’s two sons – only Akshaye Khanna was successful. He is renowned for his acting skills. But Akshaye’s brother Rahul’s Bollywood career never really took off, despite his great looks.
The Sanjay – Feroze Khan Family
Sanjay & Feroze were outsiders who made a mark in the industry. But their brother Akbar was a flop actor. Sanjay Khan’s son – Zayed’s career flopped in just 4-5 years. Feroze’s son – Fardeen’s career too did not last long.
The Deols
Dharmendra Deol was the first man in his family to enter Bollywood. He has 4 kids from two wives. Sunny Deol was a superstar, while Bobby saw his career end after a string of flops. Even though Bobby had a good start, his career ended soon. He is now seen in supporting roles in movies. Dharmendra’s daughter – Esha too was considered to be a flop star.
Abhay Deol was a successful hero of parallel cinema. But his arrogance & attitude is rumored to be behind the reason the premature end of his career.
Jeetendra Kapoor & Family
Jeetendra was a big name in the 70’s & 80’s. His son – Tusshar career too ended in a few years. he was trolled on all comedy shows, social media for his average looks. It was only thanks to the Golmaal franchise that his acting career was alive for several years.
Jeetendra’s daughter – Ekta is the most powerful celeb in Indian TV. She is also a top producer. She is the founder & force behind Balaji Telefilms.
The Bhatts
Out of Mahesh Bhatt’s children – Pooja Bhatt was only moderately successful actor, who career did not last long. Alia Bhatt on the other hand is a superstar. Their siblings Rahul Bhatt & Shaheen Bhatt never got launched in Bollywood.
Vikram Bhatt is a successful director of horror films.
The Truth
As you can see, for every successful star kid there are several star kids who are complete failures. Being a star kid almost does guarantee you a launch(depends on how successful your parents were), but it does not guarantee you success. The industry will keep giving you opportunities to prove yourself, but if you don’t make use of them then the industry will forget you.
Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Tusshar Kapoor, Kumar Gaurav, etc are now forgotten despite having hugely successful parents. On the other hand Ajay Devgn, Vicky Kaushal, Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh are hugely successful despite having parents who were not really powerful & had little or no clout in the industry.
As we have mentioned several times earlier, it is the audience who makes or breaks a star. If you are a star kid, but you lack that star like charisma, the audiences will reject you. No Karan Johar or Aditya Chopra or bitching about other stars can save you.
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