New league of star kids on Bollywood’s threshold

NEW DELHI - After Sonam Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor, the legacy of star kids foraying into Bollywood continues with veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter Sonakshi, sons Luv and Kush and comedy king Govinda’s daughter Narmmadaa set to make their debut in the industry.

Last month Sonakshi’s debut opposite Salman Khan in his brother Arbaaz’s maiden production venture was announced, but now she has reportedly walked out of the project as she wasn’t too happy with the script.

A fashion designer by profession, she made her first appearance at the Lakme India Fashion Week held in Mumbai last year. Her younger brother Luv too will follow suit and is working hard for a grand launch with “Sadiyaan”, produced by his father’s production house Shotgun Entertainment. His twin brother Kush, meanwhile, will make his debut with director Apratim Khare’s yet untitled film.

Kush was more interested in direction and went to the New York Film Academy to brush up his directorial skills. He had even assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali during the shooting of “Saawariya” (2007).

He says he accepted an acting offer because he doesn’t want to confine himself to direction alone.

“I always believed in the saying that you should always do something you believe in but that never meant to limit yourself in any way whatsoever,” Kush was quoted as saying.

Another young talent awaiting her debut in the industry is Govinda’s daughter Narmmadaa Ahuja. According to her publicist Dale Bhagwagar, she is being signed by a well-known producer but he did not reveal further details.

“There is still some time before we can reveal the name of the producer. Narmmadaa is looking forward to a lot of commercial and glamorous roles in Bollywood at the moment,” Bhagwagar told IANS.

The practice of sons and daughters stepping into their star parents’ shoes isn’t new to the industry.

In the 1940s, legendary actor-filmmaker Raj Kapoor followed his father Prithviraj Kapoor’s footsteps and entered films. Later his younger brothers,- Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, too joined the league.

Raj Kapoor’s three sons - Rishi, Randhir and Rajiv - entered filmdom and now their kids have followed suit too. Randhir’s two daughters Karisma and Kareena as well as Rishi’s son Ranbir have become part of the Hindi film fraternity.

Deol brothers - Sunny and Bobby - too followed their father Dharmendra’s footsteps as did actress Sharmila Tagore’s children Saif Ali Khan and Soha.

Even Vinod Khanna’s sons Akshay and Rahul stepped into showbiz, but they couldn’t repeat their father’s success story.

In the first year of the new millennium, actor-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan’s son Hrithik came into Bollywood and created ripples with his debut film “Kaho Na Pyaar Hai”.

He was soon followed by megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s son Abhishek and Kareena Kapoor who got a launchpad in J.P. Dutta’s 2001 movie “Refugee”.

Also on the list are star kids like Hema Malini’s daughter Esha Deol, Feroz Khan’s son Fardeen and Suresh Oberoi’s son Vivek.

The more recent ones to foray into filmdom are disco king Mithun Chakraborty’s son Mimoh and Shekhar Suman’s son Adhyayan.