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Every Bollywood superstar was once a fresh face: Industry decodes pairings
New, new, new! That’s what the world loves. And so does Bollywood. Picture these new on-screen pairings: Sonam Kapoor with Malayalam actor Dulquer Salmaan in The Zoya Factor; Hrithik Roshan and TV actor Mrunal Thakur in Super 30; Sumeet Vyas with Kareena Kapoor Khan in Veere Di Wedding; Varun Dhawan with debutante Banita Sandu in October; John Abraham with debutante Aisha Sharma in the tentatively titled film SMJ; Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi in the remake of The Fault in Our Stars; and Kannada and Tamil movie actor Shraddha Srinath with Ali Fazal in Milan Talkies.
All these pairings have one solidly established Bollywood star and opposite them a person who’s either new in Bollywood or has done only small roles until now. These are films that’ll either release in 2018 or will go on the floors.
The interest in new faces is the result of “[top] actors being game for it” feels trade analyst Taran Adarsh. “The film gets enhanced, [because] a new pairing can give the film a different look,” he says. Cinema has moved beyond tried and tested jodis, points out trade analyst Komal Nahta. “Earlier, there used to be one hit jodi and you’d keep using that jodi till the audience got bored. Now, the thrust is on giving new experiences.” Sumeet, who had a small role in English Vinglish (2012), says, “A different kind of pairing is led by the different stories people are now telling.” Aisha (the sister of actor Neha Sharma), says that her role opposite John in Milap Zaveri’s SMJ is exciting at many levels. “The feedback for [our] photo shoot is that [people] loved the chemistry that me and John had. The pairing of a star with a debutante is the biggest excitement — it’s extremely exciting for me, and the audience, too, is excited.”
At the end of the day, films need to make money, and a new pairing increases the chances of that. Nahta says, “Whether it’s a fresh story, a fresh take on an old story, or fresh casting... anything fresh definitely works. People have realised that [new casting] adds to the curiosity value and translates into box-office collections, if the film is good.”
Mukesh Chhabra, who is directing The Fault in Our Stars Hindi remake, says that the trend is here to stay, as “Bollywood is supporting and welcoming new talent”. He adds, “The audience [too] is ready for the new generation, like the Dangal girls were extremely new.” And we know how that film fared!
Zaveri believes that new talent “deserves a chance”. He says, “The more deserving newcomers that enter the industry, the better it is. After all, every present superstar was once a new face.”