The recently highlighted incident at IIFA about Nepotism was another in series of an earlier TV interview which raised the pertinent question: Do the star kids have it easy or difficult ?
While there are equally strong arguments on either side, the fact remains: you can love them or hate them, but you can't ignore them!
Star sons and daughters may have it all cut out for them, but they do have a name to defend, which, all of us know, is not at all a simple task. And this has been the situation from times immemorial.
Lest you think this is a recent phenomenon, let me remind you that children of stars ( or other not-so-starry film actors ) becoming actors is a practice ever since the talkies commenced, i.e. Thirties. The emphasis here is on actors and not the artistes from other areas of film-making.
For the full story, read on....
Who was the first star-son/star-daughter actor to have been on silver screen?
Going by the debut year, Shobhana Samarth may well be the pioneer , starting her career in 1935, whereas her mother Rattan Bai who had debuted only a couple of years earlier ! Rattan Bai was 40 when she started her career and her teenage daughter joined soon. The dynasty has names such as Nutan, Tanuja, Mohnish Behl, Kajol and Tanisha to boot and must be one of the earliest clans.
Technically, Raj Kapoor could also be called the original star son, having made his debut as a 10 year old in Inquilab ( 1935). His first film as a lead role was , however, Neel Kamal in 1947. Prithviraj Kapoor was already a big name in the industry when Raj entered the films. But it is rather well known that Raj was the assistant of Kedar Sharma , who was a hard task-master and Raj had to go through the grilling before he got to wield the megaphone.
After Raj, we had Shammi, Shashi, Randhir, Rishi, Kunal, Karan, Sanjana, Rajiv, Karishma, Kareena and Ranbir, notwithstanding the "bahus" Babita and Neetu !
If Raj is here, can Nargis be far behind?
Nargis started off as a child artiste, also in 1935. Daughter of Jaddan Bai, who had been busy on the singing scene apart from acting in films. Nargis carved out a niche of her own and was not bogged down by her mother' name. Her marriage with another star Sunil Dutt meant that their son Sanjay Dutt was probably the first star son whose both parents were stars !
The Forties star son was the one actor who grew up to become a legend in his lifetime: Mehmood. Son of Mumtaz ali, a not-so-popular actor, Mehmood spent his childhood in modest circumstances. His first film was in 1942, Sanyasi. By sheer dint of hard work and evolving himself to suit the enviroment, Mehmood became a leading comedian in 60s and 70s . His son Lucky Ali, too acted in films, apart from making singing his main vocation. His sister Meenu Mumtaz also joined films and here is a song on the two star-kids !
The star kid debut of Fifties was that of young Sadhana , who was the daughter of character actor of various films Hari Shivdasani. Sadhana had an uncredited appearance in the song of Sri 420, mud mud ke na dekh and did a Sindhi film Abana ( 1954) , before graduating to her first lead role in Love in Simla ( 1960). Sadhana later on became a style and fashion icon, apart from being in the top rung of saleable stars.
Another Fifties debutant , also a child of theatre and film personalities was Parikshit Sahni, son of Balraj Sahni. He debuted, as a child artiste, with the 1951 film Deedar ( remember the song with two kids on horseback : Parikshit and Tabassum) and in the next decade took up lead roles, first as Ajay Sahni and then reverting back to his original name. Later on , he essayed parallel roles and as character actor.
Actor Jayant had two sons, Amjad and Imtiaz. Both entered film industry as kids.
Amjad had a head-start with his first role in Nazaneen ( 1951) and four films ahead of Imtiaz , who debuted with Gyarah Hazaar ladkiyaan ( 1961).
In time, Imtiaz got villain's roles and was noticed in Dharmatma. Amjad was the proverbial "lambi race ka ghoda" and though Hindustan Ki kasam was his first film as an adult, Sholay made him the "asli pasand" of "bees bees kos door ". Amjad's son Shadab also tried his luck . but was not successful.
The Sixties child to grow up as an actress of repute was Rekha, daughter of Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli, stars of South Indian cinema. Rekha debuted in 1966, as Baby Bhanurekha and had an explosive Hindi debut in Sawan Bhadon (1970). In time, she graduated into a star and then an actress of substance and finally a fashion diva.
The torch-bearer of art films in India, Shabana Azmi made her debut in the Seventies with Ankur. Daughter of Kaifi Azmi and Shaukat Kaifi, she qualifies as a star-kid because of her mother. Shaukat played bit roes and cameos since Haqeeqat (1964). She acted in 19 films in all, but was surpassed by her daughter who became a strong pillar of art cinema, before shifting to commercial ventures.
Jeevan's son Kiran Kumar started off as a hero in Seventies, but got fame in negative roles later in his career. He was, however, a star in Gujrati films. Suniel Anand, son of Dev Anand failed to make an impact despite all efforts, though.
The real star son appeared in the Eighties with Kumar Gaurav taking his place as a teen idol in Love Story ( 1981). Son of Jubilee star Rajendra Kumar, the handsome teenage throb could not live up to expectations and was overtaken by other star-sons and established stars.
Suchitra Sen's daughter Moon Moon Sen made a splash with her sizzling roles , as did her daughters Reema and Riya, but none could match Suchitra ! On the other hand, Dina Pathak's daughters Supriya and Ratna made their mother proud.
Jagdeep's son Javed Jaffrey acted in negative roles and later on took up TV shows and mimicry, apart from dabbling in politics.
Dharmendra's son Sunny Deol too got off in the Eighties with Betaab and mustered up huge fan following. In later years he established himself as an action hero, just like his father. He had many superhits, Gadar being his most famous outing.
The Eighties and Nineties had a whole lot of new star kids, which include many of them being the second generation ones. Most of them could not do as well as their parents, such as Manoj Kumar's son Vishal Goswami, Mala Sinha's daughter Pratibha, Puru Rajkumar, Feroz Khan's son Fardeen, Jeetendra's son Tusshar, Vinod Khanna's sons Akshay and Rahul, Pankaj Kapur and Neelima Azim's son Shahid and Dharmendra's second son Bobby.The largest gap between the parents and son/daughter was that of Rajesh-Dimple's daughters Twinkle and Rinkie Khanna and Amitabh-Jaya's son Abhishek Bachchan !
The only success story was that of Saif Ali Khan, the son of Sharmila Tagore.Despite early hiccups, he proved himself to be a money-spinner as well as a good actor.
The 6-year old kid dancing in 1980 film Asha's song was Hritik Roshan, son of Rakesh Roshan, who became one of the most popular stars two decades later and still commands a fan following. After doing child roles, he was launched in 2000 as a hero in Kaho na pyar hai .
In the last decade and a half , the star kids are coming out in more numbers: Vivek Oberoi, Esha Deol Adhyayan Suman, Sonakshi Sinha, Mimoh Chakraborty, Tiger Shroff, Sonam Kapoor, Pratiek and Arya Babbar, Sikander Kher, Vivan Shah, Shraddha Kapoor.... the list is endless.
More star-kids are poised to make their debuts. Wonder how many would be able to surpass or even match their parents !
The minority of star-children being successful makes the pertinent point: Lineage isn't good enough for success: you need talent, too !
While there are equally strong arguments on either side, the fact remains: you can love them or hate them, but you can't ignore them!
Star sons and daughters may have it all cut out for them, but they do have a name to defend, which, all of us know, is not at all a simple task. And this has been the situation from times immemorial.
Lest you think this is a recent phenomenon, let me remind you that children of stars ( or other not-so-starry film actors ) becoming actors is a practice ever since the talkies commenced, i.e. Thirties. The emphasis here is on actors and not the artistes from other areas of film-making.
For the full story, read on....
Who was the first star-son/star-daughter actor to have been on silver screen?
Going by the debut year, Shobhana Samarth may well be the pioneer , starting her career in 1935, whereas her mother Rattan Bai who had debuted only a couple of years earlier ! Rattan Bai was 40 when she started her career and her teenage daughter joined soon. The dynasty has names such as Nutan, Tanuja, Mohnish Behl, Kajol and Tanisha to boot and must be one of the earliest clans.
Technically, Raj Kapoor could also be called the original star son, having made his debut as a 10 year old in Inquilab ( 1935). His first film as a lead role was , however, Neel Kamal in 1947. Prithviraj Kapoor was already a big name in the industry when Raj entered the films. But it is rather well known that Raj was the assistant of Kedar Sharma , who was a hard task-master and Raj had to go through the grilling before he got to wield the megaphone.
After Raj, we had Shammi, Shashi, Randhir, Rishi, Kunal, Karan, Sanjana, Rajiv, Karishma, Kareena and Ranbir, notwithstanding the "bahus" Babita and Neetu !
If Raj is here, can Nargis be far behind?
Nargis started off as a child artiste, also in 1935. Daughter of Jaddan Bai, who had been busy on the singing scene apart from acting in films. Nargis carved out a niche of her own and was not bogged down by her mother' name. Her marriage with another star Sunil Dutt meant that their son Sanjay Dutt was probably the first star son whose both parents were stars !
The Forties star son was the one actor who grew up to become a legend in his lifetime: Mehmood. Son of Mumtaz ali, a not-so-popular actor, Mehmood spent his childhood in modest circumstances. His first film was in 1942, Sanyasi. By sheer dint of hard work and evolving himself to suit the enviroment, Mehmood became a leading comedian in 60s and 70s . His son Lucky Ali, too acted in films, apart from making singing his main vocation. His sister Meenu Mumtaz also joined films and here is a song on the two star-kids !
The star kid debut of Fifties was that of young Sadhana , who was the daughter of character actor of various films Hari Shivdasani. Sadhana had an uncredited appearance in the song of Sri 420, mud mud ke na dekh and did a Sindhi film Abana ( 1954) , before graduating to her first lead role in Love in Simla ( 1960). Sadhana later on became a style and fashion icon, apart from being in the top rung of saleable stars.
Another Fifties debutant , also a child of theatre and film personalities was Parikshit Sahni, son of Balraj Sahni. He debuted, as a child artiste, with the 1951 film Deedar ( remember the song with two kids on horseback : Parikshit and Tabassum) and in the next decade took up lead roles, first as Ajay Sahni and then reverting back to his original name. Later on , he essayed parallel roles and as character actor.
Actor Jayant had two sons, Amjad and Imtiaz. Both entered film industry as kids.
Amjad had a head-start with his first role in Nazaneen ( 1951) and four films ahead of Imtiaz , who debuted with Gyarah Hazaar ladkiyaan ( 1961).
In time, Imtiaz got villain's roles and was noticed in Dharmatma. Amjad was the proverbial "lambi race ka ghoda" and though Hindustan Ki kasam was his first film as an adult, Sholay made him the "asli pasand" of "bees bees kos door ". Amjad's son Shadab also tried his luck . but was not successful.
The Sixties child to grow up as an actress of repute was Rekha, daughter of Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli, stars of South Indian cinema. Rekha debuted in 1966, as Baby Bhanurekha and had an explosive Hindi debut in Sawan Bhadon (1970). In time, she graduated into a star and then an actress of substance and finally a fashion diva.
The torch-bearer of art films in India, Shabana Azmi made her debut in the Seventies with Ankur. Daughter of Kaifi Azmi and Shaukat Kaifi, she qualifies as a star-kid because of her mother. Shaukat played bit roes and cameos since Haqeeqat (1964). She acted in 19 films in all, but was surpassed by her daughter who became a strong pillar of art cinema, before shifting to commercial ventures.
Jeevan's son Kiran Kumar started off as a hero in Seventies, but got fame in negative roles later in his career. He was, however, a star in Gujrati films. Suniel Anand, son of Dev Anand failed to make an impact despite all efforts, though.
The real star son appeared in the Eighties with Kumar Gaurav taking his place as a teen idol in Love Story ( 1981). Son of Jubilee star Rajendra Kumar, the handsome teenage throb could not live up to expectations and was overtaken by other star-sons and established stars.
Jagdeep's son Javed Jaffrey acted in negative roles and later on took up TV shows and mimicry, apart from dabbling in politics.
Dharmendra's son Sunny Deol too got off in the Eighties with Betaab and mustered up huge fan following. In later years he established himself as an action hero, just like his father. He had many superhits, Gadar being his most famous outing.
The Eighties and Nineties had a whole lot of new star kids, which include many of them being the second generation ones. Most of them could not do as well as their parents, such as Manoj Kumar's son Vishal Goswami, Mala Sinha's daughter Pratibha, Puru Rajkumar, Feroz Khan's son Fardeen, Jeetendra's son Tusshar, Vinod Khanna's sons Akshay and Rahul, Pankaj Kapur and Neelima Azim's son Shahid and Dharmendra's second son Bobby.The largest gap between the parents and son/daughter was that of Rajesh-Dimple's daughters Twinkle and Rinkie Khanna and Amitabh-Jaya's son Abhishek Bachchan !
The only success story was that of Saif Ali Khan, the son of Sharmila Tagore.Despite early hiccups, he proved himself to be a money-spinner as well as a good actor.
In the last decade and a half , the star kids are coming out in more numbers: Vivek Oberoi, Esha Deol Adhyayan Suman, Sonakshi Sinha, Mimoh Chakraborty, Tiger Shroff, Sonam Kapoor, Pratiek and Arya Babbar, Sikander Kher, Vivan Shah, Shraddha Kapoor.... the list is endless.
More star-kids are poised to make their debuts. Wonder how many would be able to surpass or even match their parents !
The minority of star-children being successful makes the pertinent point: Lineage isn't good enough for success: you need talent, too !
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