“We all carry inside us, people who came before us.” Well, this famous line by Liam Callanan holds all the relevance that one can relate to when it comes to Bollywood actors. While we have in the past seen examples of people making it big without any background and connection in the industry, if we actually sit down one day to compare the ratio of stars with a lineage and without one, there’s no element of doubt over the fact that the ball will be in the court of the ones with a history in films. Yes, having a famous surname certainly does help an individual in making the cut before someone with no background and by no means can this possibility be denied. However, at the end of the day, just like ‘Customer is hailed as the king in business’, the audience is hailed as the almighty in the business of entertainment. So, you might have the biggest name and legacy behind you. But then, if the audience doesn’t accept you the way you expect them to, there’s nothing much that we can do. While many stars have in the past carried forward the legacy of their yesteryear generation with perfection, a lot of stars unfortunately couldn’t do the same despite getting that big break faster than a lot of others. Today, we take a close look at few such names who perhaps had all the makings of a big star but eventually, that didn’t really end up being the case.
Sooraj Pancholi: Sooraj Pancholi might be one of the fittest and most good-looking men around in the Indian entertainment industry as far as the young guns are concerned. However, his good looks and charm could actually do very little when it comes to playing a savior for his dooming career. He was blessed with the ideal debut by none other than Salman Khan in the film ‘Hero’ in 2015. However, after that, nothing could be of real help for his career. Add to that, his alleged controversial involvement in the Jiah Khan death case too didn’t help his process by any means.
Athiya Shetty: Well, just like Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty aka Suniel Shetty’s daughter too was the beneficiary of a special Bollywood debut gifted to her by none other than B-Town’s beloved Bhaijaan aka Salman Khan. Athiya was launched alongside Sooraj Pancholi as the two new faces of the Hindi entertainment industry. However, as far as professional success is concerned, both of them have had the same results so far. After Hero, Athiya tried to impress in movies like ‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’ alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui and others but so far, nothing much has helped her process and for real. Well, we however hope that fate turns miraculously by her side and she gets the kind of success that she desires.
Karan Deol: Hailed as the latest ‘chirag’ of the Deol family after the likes of legendary Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby Deol, Karan Deol made his debut in movies in the year ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’. While he and his grandfather Dharmendra both looked very confident about his debut, so far, things haven’t really worked out in his way due to which, he’s had a dry spell when it comes to movies and content. Barring his debut movie and a series or two on OTT, he hasn’t gotten much of an opportunity to showcase much of his potential so far. All we can hope is that may better days come his way going forward.
Fardeen Khan: Fardeen Khan is one of the unfortunate examples of a star who perhaps started well in the industry as a lead courtesy of his good looks and charm. However, eventually he couldn’t really capitalise on his initial stardom. Add to that, a spree of wrong choices of movies which bombed terribly at the box office didn’t help his process as well. Post that, he took a long break from movies and even was completely out of shape when it came to fitness. However, he’s soon set to begin his second innings in B-Town with his upcoming movie ‘Visfot’ that also stars the amazing Riteish Deshmukh.
Uday Chopra: Uday Chopra is one personality who’s always had great potential right from the very beginning of his professional career. While initially he was famous and popular for his boyish charm as well as muscular physique, eventually his stardom fizzled. Slowly and steadily, from a young and promising young lead, he became stereotyped as someone who’s fun and entertaining as the second lead alongside a main character. Post that, he was primarily seen in Dhoom franchise and ever since then, we haven’t seen much of his acting in any platform, be it movies or OTT.
Riya Sen: When Riya Sen made her debut in movies, expectations were really high as she came from a popular Bengali lineage who were known to do good work. The likes of Moon Moon Sen and Raima Sen had already done good work and hence, expectations were high from her end. However, that wasn’t the real case with Riya. Soon, she was known more for her beautiful face and modeling skills ahead of her acting abilities and it certainly didn’t help her career by any means. Soon, she became a just a popular name but also someone, who entirely vanished from the film industry and was nowhere to be seen.
Jaccky Bhagnani: He’s the son of one of the most respected Producers in the Hindi entertainment industry aka Vashu Bhagnani. Jaccky Bhagnani initially made his debut. While fans and a lot of women out there were completely in awe of his good looks and charm, it didn’t translate much into his acting potential. Soon, he decided to take a backseat from his acting and eventually, established his niche and worked hard to become a successful Producer. Today, he’s one of the leading young Producers in the entertainment industry and with his company aka Pooja Entertainment, he’s doing his best to back content-driven films with his Production house.
Adhyayan Suman: He’s the son of one of the most versatile performing artistes in the country aka Shekhar Suman. Be it as a lead, parallel lead, comedian artiste or anything else beyond that, Shekhar Suman had got it all during his prime and no wonder, the expectations were high from Adhyayan Suman. However, movies like Raaz: The Mystery Continues, Ishq Click, Heartless, Bekhudi, and Haal-e-dil didn’t help his cause by any means and well, a spree of flops totally made him vanish from the industry in quite literally no time.
Zayed Khan: Zayed Khan was one of the most charming and good-looking talented young actors during his prime. When he made his debut, innumerable girls were totally charmed and bowled over by his boyish charm. Although he always had the good looks and style quotient to be successful as a lead artiste, eventually he became restricted to just a second lead. Even today, we can’t think of many movies unfortunately from his end which have ended up being a success solely because of his presence. His most memorable movie which is still fresh in the minds and hearts of one and all is ‘Main Hoon Na’ alongside Shah Rukh Khan and we loved him entirely for real as Lakshman in the movie. Ever since then, we haven’t seen much coming from his end in the acting department.
Mimoh (Mahaakshay Chakraborty): Last but certainly not the least, we have to talk about Mahaakshay Chakraborty aka ‘Mimoh’. He’s the son of none other than Bollywood’s original ‘Dada’ aka Mithun Chakraborty and well, we all are well aware of the success Mithun Chakraborty has gotten in his career and the kind of respect that he commands in the industry. However, his son, fondly known as Mimoh couldn’t do much to follow on his father’s footsteps and continue the same success story. After a movie here and there, Mimoh completely disappeared from limelight and well, to be really honest, not many are even aware of the fact sadly that an actor named Mahaakshay Chakraborty actually exists.
While talks on nepotism have been high for quite some time now in the past few years, we can’t really ignore the fact that even if ‘star kids’ are blessed with the perfectly ‘served’ movie debut, at the end of the day, it’s entirely them and their career decisions that eventually decide their fate and how their career will eventually progress in the entertainment industry. Yes, the first step for ‘star kids’ is indeed a lot more simple compared to the regular hustle which actors beyond any background have to deal with. However, at the end of the day, it all boils down to acceptance from the audience as that’s all that counts at the end of the day.
