Every day thousands of starry-eyed people with glittery dreams of making it to showbiz arena steps in the aisles of tinsel town, but it’s only a few who have the stars favouring them. Even for those who succeed in making it to celluloid, getting a break on the big screen is not an assurance of secure future in Bollywood It can be a cruel place. One day you are an in-demand actor or actress with directors wooing you with their best scripts and bending over backwards to have you sign up. One flop, you’re knocking on doors, waiting it out outside studios and auditioning for ‘junior actor’ roles in B-grade flicks. And if that does not work out, somewhere a NRI businessman, in case of an actress and film production business, real estate or some totally different career awaits them..
They become like brands who become a hit overnight but disappear without a trace as fast.
Then if we flashback we find actors like Jugal Hansraj who practically stole the show in the critically acclaimed ‘Masoom’ in which he played an illegitimate child. As an adult, he did appear in a few films no hits came his way again.
We know Antara Mali for her role in the movie Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon. If you don’t know her, that’s just as well – she was still pretty much trying to make it when she quit. Mali was Ram Gopal Varma’s muse for a while before she wisely quit movies in 2005. The actress married Che Kurrien, the editor of GQ magazine in 2009. In 2012, she delivered a baby girl. Not much is known about this elusive actress now.
Then take phenomenal Bhagyashree’s who rose to fame with the Salman Khan starrer, Maine Pyar Kiya,. However, the talented actress didn’t stick around long in the industry to give us more hits though she did act in a few films after “Maine Pyaar Kiya.” mostly with her husband actor, Himalaya.
Do you remember Rahul Roy? Yes, the actor who rose to fame with, ‘Aashiqui’ and for whom the phrase, “overnight success” was perhaps written. Sadly enough, his fame abated almost as fast as it rose.
Let’s again go back a little in time. Remember Saudagar’? When it hit the screens, everyone was impressed with Manisha Koirala but that didn’t mean newcomer Vivek Mushran’s performance went unnoticed. With his boyish looks, the audience was expecting to see him in more hit films-something which unfortunately didn’t happen.
And in recent times, maybe it’s a good thing that Himesh Reshammiya didn’t have a hit as an actor after ‘Aap Ka Suroor’ given how his performance in the film was less than ordinary.
On the contrary, take Rajeev Khandelwal. Having made a strong impression with his television performances, he migrated to the big screen with Aamir – a film for which his performance was highly acclaimed. However, the migratory path ended almost as soon as it began for this promising actor.
Imad Shah gave a memorable performance in ‘Dil Dosti Etc.’- a film that went on to gain a cult-status among the young. But since then, his face seems to have faded from the audience’s collective memory.
And then remember Gracy Singh? Yes she was there in Munna bhai MBBS but anyone with half-an eye who has seen the movie will know that it wasn’t exactly Gracy’s film. It is for Lagaan that she is most remembered.
Then take Mandakini of the signature Raj Kapoor directed film Ram Teri Ganga Maili’. Though after the phenomenal ‘transparent saree’ hit she starred in many a film but, none of them helped her add another hit to her portfolio.
The phenomenal success of 80s Love Story shot Kumar Gaurav to the highest levels of the stratosphere of fame. But none of his follow-up movies worked for him well.
The fact that you’re a superstar’s son doesn’t ensure a long and successful career in Bollywood. That’s the lesson one gleans from the fate of Rajiv Kapoor-the son of the legendary Raj Kapoor. His film “Ram Teri Ganga Maili” was one of the biggest hits of its time but as far as his film career goes, that’s where the good news ends.
Then superstar Dev Anand’s son Suneil Anand had everything served on a silver platter. Yet he couldn’t make it. He acted along with his father in the film Anand Aur Anand, but nothing worked for him after that. He has a total of three films to his credit and none of them are really known.
Playing opposite Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Kapoor got a hit with his very first film, Raja. Even though he did make subsequent movie appearances in Mohabbat and Auzaar,etc nothing helped him earn a place among the successful Bollywood actors.
In recent times, we have seen many new talented actors appearing in Bollywood films. Some of them were fated to make it big while others faded into oblivion.
Gayatri Joshi who was seen in the film Swades opposite Shah Rukh Khan disappeared just after the film. Another example is Vijay Arora. Few can forget the mischievous man to whom Zeenat Aman sings the song Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko in Yaadon Ki Baraat, but almost no one remembers his name. It is Vijay Arora and he did many films and TV serials after that, but none worth writing home about.
Kajol’s kid sister, Tanisha has made many attempts but hasn’t got the success till now. Tanisha was seen in Neal n Nikki and Sarkar.
Another of Salman Khan’s discoveries Bhumika Chawla, his co-star in Tere Naam also faded into oblivion after the film. After this movie, Bhumika went back to doing Telugu films with a few unknown Hindi ones thrown in occasionally. Now the actress is happily married to Yoga guru Bharat Thakur.
The list goes on. Just too many to mention here. Will do a part 2 of this piece soon.
Fridaybrands.com feels that stars who can give one hit are definitely capable to giving many more. However, long-term success can’t be guaranteed because talent is not the only criteria that ensures a film actor or actress’ success there are many other factors, luck being one and wrong decisions being the other
