We all have heard too much of the word ‘nepostism’ in the past few months. But does it really play that important a role in deciding the future of a film actor? Does belonging to a family of successful film star/s really help in shaping the career of an aspiring actor? Well, it certainly does; but not always in a positive way. It also increases the expectations of audience and leads to a lifetime of comparisons. The new actors are often compared to their family members and judged massively on this single basis – the legacy. Unless one has exceptional acting skills, chances are, s/he will be majorly scrutinized for not being up to the expectation that a legacy brings along with it.
Let us take a look at some of those star kids who could not make it big in the Indian Film Industry as compared to their predecessors.
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1. Zayed Khan
Son of erstwhile actor Sanjay Khan, he too failed to make an impact on the Hindi film industry. He was born in 1980 and debuted in 2003 in the film Chura Liya Hai Tumne with another new comer Esha Deol (who will be covered separately). After the film performing miserably at the box office, he went on to act in the widely superhit Shah Rukh Khan starrer Main Hoon Na and is best remember for his role in this movie as Lucky. And the films he worked in later on did not take his career graph anywhere but lower.
2. Uday Chopra
Son of late Yash Chopra and brother of a successful film maker Aditya Chopra, Uday Chopra’s career did not take off from the start. His debut movie, Mohabbatein, was a hit although it was a multi starrer. However, the movies that followed soon after did not yield any magic on the audience and he failed to create an impact.
3. Tusshar Kapoor
Son of veteran actor Jitendra, like many of his counterparts, he too failed to make a career in Bollywood. While his first movie, Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai managed to do well at the box office, the other movies did not do any good for him. Although his sister is a successful television and film producer, he could make any name for himself in the world of acting.
4. Harman Baweja
Another star kid who failed to make a mark in Bollywood is Harman Baweja, son of film director and producer Harry Baweja. He has only 7 films to his credit and none of them were even near to being a hit. He was majorly in the news because of a slight resemblance to Hrithik Roshan and of course for his rumoured affairs with co starts Priyanka Chopra and Bipasha Basu.
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5. Fardeen Khan
Born to famous veteran actor Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan followed his father’s footsteps and tried his hand at acting. However, he was not at all successful in making an impact. His debut movie did not good for him and the films that followed only made it worse except a few like Pyar Tune Kya Kiya, Bhoot and Jungle; which were not enough to save his sinking boat.
6. Suneil Anand
Born in 1965 to the evergreen superstar and legend Dev Anand, his career was not even remotely close to being a hit leave alone super successful like his father’s. He has mere 4 movies to his credit and most of us might not have even heard the names of those. Now we don’t really know what caused this unsuccessful stint, was it the acting or comparisons made to his father or just plain bad luck.
7. Kumar Gaurav
Who has not heard of the legendary actor Rajendra Kumar, who was also named ‘Jubilee Kumar’ during his amazingly successful Bollywood career? However, his son, Kumar Gaurav could not weave the same magic as him. Born in 1960, he debuted with the movie Love Story which a blockbuster hit and made him the talk of the town as the youth started emulating his character from the film. Thereafter, none of him films made an impact on neither the box office nor on the audience’s mind.
8. Esha Deol
Who can forget the ‘Dream Girl’ Hema Malini. She was a superstar and a great actress of her times. However, Esha Deol failed to carry this legacy forward. Born in 1981 to the great superstars of yesteryears Dharmendra and Hema Malini, Esha Deol debuted in the movie Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche in 2002 and her performance was widely appreciated. However, in the coming years, her career graph showed no signs of growing and slowly kept declining as she did many multi starrers which were non grossers at the box office. In-fact she was one of the few actress who brought the trend of washboard abs in women.
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9. Mahakshay (Mimoh) Chakravarty
Born in 1984, he belongs to a relatively recent generation of star kids. He is the son of super star Mithun Chakravarty and considering what a massive superstar his father was, people really had a lot of expectations from him. However, out of the five Hindi films that he acted in, not even one was a hit at the box office.
10. Shahdaab Khan
Son of the famous villain Amjad Khan who is most remembered for his role in the movie Sholay as Gabbar Singh, Shadaab Khan cannot even be considered a one-movie-wonder also! His debut movie opposite Rani Mukherjee failed miserably at the box office; and while Rani went on become a massively successful actor in the years that followed, he was forgotten in a jiffy.
11. Rajiv Kapoor
Born in 1962, he is the youngest son of Raj Kapoor who was also known as ‘the Great Showman of Hindi Cinema’. While his other brothers managed to make a name for themselves in Bollywood, Rajiv Kapoor was not that lucky. He is (might be) remembered for his leading role in his father’s last directorial venture Ram Teri Ganga Maili in 1985. Thereafter, his career graph only started dipping.
12. Puru Raajkumar
Son of veteran actor Raaj Kumar, he made his debut in the movie Bal Bramhachari in 1996. After a gap of three years he returned to the film industry with negative roles in a few movies. However, he never really made an impact on the audience throughout his stint in Bollywood. In fact, a few years back he was arrested in a hit and run case, but was never convicted for the same.
13. Faisal Khan
Born in 1966, he is the brother of famous Indian actor and superstar Amir Khan. His father Tahir Husain was a film producer. While Amir Khan made a great name for himself in the movie industry, Faisal was unsuccessful from the word go. After many brief appearances in movies like Pyar ka Mausam and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, he made a debut as a lead in the movie Madhosh. Needless to say his debut movie along with the movies that followed failed to bring him any luck and ended his career soon thereafter. Last heard, he was in the news for suffering from a mental disorder and had accused Amir Khan to have confined him to his home for two days.
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14. Sikander Kher
Despite being the son of seasoned actors Anupam Kher (who is actually his step father) and Kirron Kher, Sikander Kher’s career is deprived of any good roles and meaningful acting. Born in 1980, he made his acting debut in the movie Woodstock Villa in 2008. While his acting skills were appreciated in the movie, the movie on the whole did not do any good for his career. He went on to do 5 more movies after that and none of them made it to the hits list.
15. Luv Sinha
Have you even heard about him? Personally I had no clue about his family, movies or even his name until recently. Born in 1983, he is the son of popular erstwhile superstar Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam Sinha. For the now-gen reader, he is the brother of actress Sonakshi Sinha. Up till now he has only acted in movie Sadiyaan which was released in 2010, and I don’t think it is a unknown fact that the movie did not do well at the box office.
16. Sanjay Kapoor
He is the brother of famous Bollywood personalities Anil Kapoor and Boney Kapoor and son of producer Surinder Kapoor. He debuted in the movie Prem in 1995, opposite new comer Tabu, which bombed at the box office. He gave a few hits like Raja and Sirf Tum, however, it did no good for his acting career. Although his performance was appreciated for a negative role that he played in the movie Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche, rest of the movies are not even worth mentioning.
17. Jacky Bhagnani
Born to movie producer Vashu Bhagnani in 1984, he made his debut in Bollywood in the year 2009 with the movie Kal Kisne Dekha, which was not able to woo the audience. His movie F.A.L.T.U. saw a bit of success; although most of us would remember him for being the face of the song ‘Suno na sangemarmar’. The movies that followed failed to make an impact and so did he.
18. Adhyayan Suman
One of the youngest of this lot that made it to the list, he is the son of popular film and television actor Shekhar Suman. He has done around 8 films till date, none of which were able to make a mark at the box office. He has recently been the news only because of his controversial interviews regarding actress Kangana Ranaut. Other than that, there has been nothing that the people can remember him for.
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19. Karan Kapoor
Son of Bollywood superstar, the late Shashi Kapoor, Karan Kapoor was not successful in making his name in the Hindi film industry unlike most of his family members including cousins. He debuted with the movie Sultanat in 1986 and went on to do Loha a year later; however, both movies were not box office hits. For the 80’s kid, he is best remembered as the face of Bombay Dyeing.
20. Abhishek Bachhan
He is one of the first names that come to your mind when we talk about unsuccessful star kids. He faced what can be called ‘the baap of all comparisons’ and undoubtedly so. From his launch till throughout his career he has only been facing massive comparisons to his father, the great Amitabh Bachhan. While he was appreciated for his acting skills in a few movies like Guru, Yuva and Sarkar, he has not been able to woo the audience with his other movies. Having said that, I personally do feel bad for him as his career did not take off as he might have expected it to, only because of the silly comparisons.
21. Tanishaa Mukerji
Hailing from a family of Bollywood biggies, Tanishaa too, like all other star kids had to live upto the image held by her mother, yesteryear actor Tanuja and exceptionally talented sister Kajol. However, she could not match up to the success that they both achieved and her career graph was in the declining phase as soon as it started. She is best known for her role in Sarkar and her participation in the TV show Big Boss where she bagged the first runner’s up trophy.
22. Kunal Goswami
Son of veteran actor Manoj Kumar also nicknamed Bharat Kumar because of successful patriotic movies, Kunal Goswami’s career was only a few films old; precisely, 4. The only thing memorable from his short film career is the song ‘Neele Neele Ambar Par’ and still many would not even be aware of him being the face of that song.
These are just a few of the names that come to mind when we talk about unsuccessful star kids of Bollywood’s successful personalities. To conclude, nepotism is not the only way that works in Bollywood, otherwise the above mentioned names would have been super hits just like their family members’. To have a successful career one needs exceptional talent among other prerequisites and let us not forget that the ultimate power lies in the hands of the audience. Viewers are the ones that make or break an actor’s career in the Hindi Film Industry.
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