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STARRY LOVE VS REAL DRAMAS
With yet another star kid making a film debut with a love story, we look at how they differ from other newbies settling for gritty genres
What’s common among actors Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan? Apart from being star kids, they have all chosen love stories for their acting debut.
Trade expert Atul Mohan says that choosing a conventional film for their big debut is definitely a “conscious decision” on the part of insiders. “Through your first movie, you want to reach out to a lot of people. With a love story, you are able to become the desire of many hearts. Almost every star kid is thus, launched with such a film.”
Trade analyst Komal Nahta agrees. “Love stories with newcomers mostly work because of the additional advantage of freshness that they bring,” he says.
However, it’s interesting to note that outsiders such as Rajkummar Rao, Radhika Apte and Ayushmann Khurrana have all made their debuts with films, that weren’t the regular masala fare.
Radhika Apte says that choosing different films, is often a compulsion and not a choice. After a small role in Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi (2005), and a couple of regional films, she made her Bollywood debut with The Waiting Room (2010). She says, “When I started, there weren’t many choices. So, when I bagged my first film, I went ahead with it.”
But love stories aren’t a sure-shot formula for success. Mohan opines, “It’s not successful every time. Kumar Gaurav made a successful debut with Love Story (1981), but he couldn’t make right decisions after that. Mirzya (2016), too, didn’t work for Harshvardhan Kapoor.”
Another reason why outsiders go for unconventional stories, according to
Nahta, is because “nobody is ready t invest in you”. “Outsiders debut wit smaller budget films a love stories can’t be made on a small budget.”
Mohan agrees, “Non starkids were lucky to get the kind of films they got because they had talent, and see where they have reached in their careers.”
It is true because Radhika went on to star in popular films such as Andhadhun and Pad Man, while Ayushmann is currently the man of the moment with two back-to-back hits. Rajkummar, too, delivered a ₹100-crore film with Stree.
Rajkummar made his acting debut with Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD; 2010). “As an outsider I didn’t have too many
ons oose o.eSw as my only chance to break in. All I hoped was that film-makers would watch it and give me more work, and that happened,” he says.
Vicky Kaushal, son of action director Sham Kaushal, eventually made it big with superhits such as Raazi and Sanju. He says, “During my initial days, I was looking for good opportunities. Masaan (2015) happened in a very organic way. It wasn’t a conscious decision to debut with any specific kind of film.”