Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars
 Kunal Khemu might have had big hits like ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’, ‘Raja Hindustani’ and wide scale critical acclaim for ‘Zakhm’ as a child.
But things have been a lot different for him as an adult star.
Even after a promising debut with ‘Kalyug’, stardom continues to elude him with duds films like ‘Dhol’ and ‘Superstar’.
This in spite of him, taking great care during the time he was re-launched as a hero!
He didn’t quite want to talk about these very movies because the good old belief remains deep rooted-in Bollywood that good child actors seldom make successful stars!
Before going back to his mentor Mahesh Bhatt he made it a point to keep mum and not talk to the press till the film actually ‘happened’.
The track records of child stars in the past had scared him but he too seems to be a victim of a similar predicament.
Hansika Motwani is another big example. This one was a very successful child star till as late as early 2004. Then all of a sudden she became a full grown woman and got a role opposite Himesh Reshammiya in 2007.
In fact, by then she had already done a South film and had signed a film with Mithun Chakraborty’s son Mimoh which was launched in late 2005 but never happened.
The inside story is that a few hormone shots and rounds to the cosmetic surgeon’s place made her what she’s today. But her ‘Money hai to honey hai’ opposite Govinda who’s old enough to be her father sank without a trace and now she’s no notable films to talk about.
Jugal Hansraj’s career fell fully flat as an adult. Not even a film with child so-star Urmila and a Yah Raj biggie like ‘Mohabbatien’ helped. Now he’s happy directing animated films like ‘Roadside Romeo’.
Aftab Shivdasani acted in ‘Mr. India’ which also starred choreographer-director Ahmed Khan as a child artist and many others like ‘Shahenshah’, ‘ChaalBaaz’, ‘Awwal Number’ etc. But he’s is still looking for that solo hit as a leading hero after almost a decade in the industry. But as of now, only multi-starrers and unsubstantial films like ‘Aloo Chat’ are only in his kitty.
Urmila Matondkar however can be called a success. She was successful with ‘Masoom’ and Shashi Kapoor’s ‘Kalyug’and later after much struggle could package herself in a new hot avatar. Age is not on her side (her growing years reflect on her face) and the story is different now. Sridevi who acted in mythologicals as a child was another success.
In the past Ranbir Kapoor’s mom Neetu Singh was successful as Baby Sonia in the super hit ‘Do Kalian’, followed by roles in ‘Pavitra Paapi’ and ‘Waaris.’ Sarika grew into the pretty hazel eyed actress after often playing child roles in movies like ‘Manjhali Didi’, ‘Hamraaz’ etc.
Padmini Kolhapure was great as a child actress and amazing as the young Zeenat Aman in ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ and another amazing act in ‘Insaaf Ka Taraazu’ and later proved her mettle as a heroine with ‘Prem Rog.’
Years before that Nargis was Baby Nargis and perhaps the first great star to perform as a child star when she appeared in ‘Talashe Haq’ in 1935. Meena Kumari was Baby Meena, a child star, directors in the 40s banked on. And the eternally beautiful Madhubala was Baby Mumtaz, the cherubic young child in ‘Basant’ before turning stunning leading lady with ‘Mahal.’
This one which went into oblivion soon were Ratan Kumar who did very well in ‘Boot Polish’ before migrating to Pakistan, Master Romi with hits like ‘Footpath’, ‘Do Phool’ and ‘Ab Dilli Dur Nahin’, Mehmood Jr who shone more than his senior rendering ‘Kaale hain to kya hua dil wale hain’ and Master Raju, who was first cast as a three year old in ‘Parichay’ by Gulzar. He was a big time scene stealer and ‘must have’ in Hindi films in the 70s but as an adult he never clicked.
The Irani sisters, Daisy and Honey Irani had become household names and their films fetched the biggest openings. Daisy couldn’t measure up to that success as an adult star while Honey Irani (Farhan Akhtar’s mum) made a mark as story and screenplay writer years later. Baby Tabassum became more comfy turning National TV host! And Baby Naaz made a comeback only in her old days.
The general feeling was that after having been around for so long as a child artiste, it became difficult for audiences to accept them suddenly as romantic heroines.
Interestingly childhood acting became a perfect practice ground for some who turned super stars later! This applies for most star children.
Shashi Kapoor who had made his acting debut at age six continued working as a child artist in many mythological films and also played Raj Kapoor’s younger counterpart. Rishi Kapoor played young Raj Kapoor in ‘Mera Naam Joker.’
Sanjay Dutt faced the camera when he was 12 in his father Sunil Dutt’s ‘Reshma Aur Shera.’ Aamir Khan appeared as a child artist in his dad’s ‘Yaadon Ki Baarat. Bobby Deol had a 10-second appearance in Manmohan Desai’s ‘Dharam Veer’ where he played a young Dharmendra. And hearthrob Hrithik Roshan acted like a pro at age six in ‘Aap Ke Deewane’ and ‘Aasha’. This was followed by a big chunk of role in ‘Bhagwan Dada’ sharing screen space with the heroes and also dancing with Sridevi in a song!
However the proverbial child star has always been accused of over acting.
‘Makdi’ and ‘Iqbal’s Shweta Prasad is a fairly good actor but has been found to be irritating. So is ‘Ek Ajnabee’ and ‘Main Aisa hi hoon’s Rucha Vaidya who models herself after Hollywood star Dakota Fanning but is a complete ‘unnatural’ unlike her!
The promising ones are Ayesha Kapoor from ‘Black’with her foreign accent, ‘Taare Zameen Par’s Darsheel Safary and ‘Sexy’ Swini Khara from ‘Cheeni Kum’.
So except for the lucky few, not every little star shines bright in tinsel town.
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Sneha Hazarika
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