Bollywood likes its own. That much is clear. One has to only look at the endorsements a new release from a Bollywood offspring gets to feel it, even if it is not deserving, as in the case of Mirzya, starring Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher.
Kapoor and Kher are industry offspring - he the son of the extremely popular Anil Kapoor and she the niece of Tanvi Azmi. The film, an ambitious turkey, received unanimous praise on Twitter from almost every industry hotshot, even after they'd seen it. Everyone was willing to support a below par movie just because of the DNA factor.
Made for Rs 45 crore, it earned Rs 11 crore at the box office. In contrast, take MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, which is this year's second biggest hit so far with a box office collection of with Rs 132 crore.
It starred Sushant Singh Rajput, every thinking director's favourite thinking actor, who inhabited the character with dedication and dignity. It got little attention from Bollywood's finest but clearly worked with audiences. And thank God for that.
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Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher in Mirzya. (Photo credit: Google) |
For, if there is one thing that this year has taught - or at least should have taught - the industry, it is this: quit chasing stars, just tell a great story and cast actors with an appetite and talent to match. A surname can give you instant recognition but it cannot get you ability.
Filmmaking is not - and should not be - a gamble. And you only have to scroll down the list of this year's hits (see chart below) to see that. Airlift and Rustom starrer Akshay Kumar, an actor who is trying to do better cinema, even as he keeps his more idiotic franchises like Housefull 3 alive (this year's sixth biggest hit so far).
Kumar is the ultimate outsider who has moved his way up the Bollywood food chain, steadily improving, choosing better stories and even better directors. He may still do some silly cinema, whether to have a busman's holiday in exotic locations or because of some misplaced notion of what comedy is, but his taste is improving, no doubt under the tutelage if his exceptionally talented writer wife, Twinkle Khanna.
Nobody knows anything, William Goldman said. The entire quote is even more revealing: "Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one.''
Bollywood has to stop making guesses whether talent matches DNA. There's a whole lot of new actors waiting to take flight and I worry for what awaits us. So, Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's daughter Jahnavi has a great presence on Instagram, but does she have her mother's skill?
Saif Ali Khan Pataudi and Amrita Singh's daughter Sara has lost a lot of weight and is looking lovely but does she have to be foisted on an unsuspecting audience merely because of her genes.
Now I know nepotism has even acquired the Trump stamp, and I know too that ultimately the audience is the best judge, but from experience I have to say that actors from inside the Bollywood gene pool don't disappear after the first, or several, flops.
They tend to linger, and bash on regardless. But if Bollywood had any sense, it would refresh its talent pool of actors much as it has done with directors. Adding to Bollywood royalty like Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar and Sooraj Barjatya is a host of filmmakers who are rooted in their worlds, yet at ease with the western movies.
They speak the language of the earth, like Vishal Bhardwaj, Imtiaz Ali and Anurag Kashyap, but in a way that appeals to a generation weaned on Western movies and TV series. This brings an edge to their storytelling that is fresh and authentic. It may not always work, but it is never boring.
In actors like Sushant Singh Rajput, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Deepike Padukone, Bollywood has found people who have a life history outside of Juhu/Bandra/Pali Hill.
Sushant Singh Rajput was training to be an engineer, Ranveer Singh was educated at the University of Bloomington in Indiana, Anushka Sharma was a model in Bangalore and Deepika Padukone was a national-level badminton player.
They have all had life experiences that are outside the bubble and are certainly better actors for it - training in riding, fighting, dancing can only get you so far. And not everyone is born with the kind of abilities gifted to Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.
I don't believe Bollywood's generation next should not take a shot at making movies - after all, numbers nine and ten on the list below showcase offspring of Bollywood stars, Tiger Shroff and Sonam Kapoor.
That's probably the only thing they've trained for, dreamed of, and wanted to do. So sure, go ahead. But it wouldn't hurt Bollywood to be less blinded by the glare of its own, and not blind to the talent of those outside its own boundaries.
Let the insiders have their Sofia Coppola acting moment and perhaps some of them might turn out to be a Bryce Dallas Howard too, but hey, give the outsider a chance. And certainly when he or she succeeds, acknowledge it. And celebrate it.
This is one club that can only benefit by expansion of its membership. After all, remember Bollywood's last biggest star? Yes, Shah Rukh Khan, the man from Delhi, who made it all seem possible.
SNo | Movie | Budget (In crores) | Lifetime Business (In crores) |
1 | Sultan | 90 | 300.45 |
2 | MS Dhoni: The Untold Story | 104 | 132.85 |
3 | Airlift | 30 | 127.80 |
4 | Rustom | 40 | 127.13 |
5 | Ae Dil Hai Mushkil | 72 | 112.50 |
6 | Housefull 3 | 85 | 108 |
7 | Shivaay | 105 | 99.80 |
8 | Fan | 105 | 85 |
9 | Baaghi | 47 | 76 |
10 | Neerja | 30 | 75.61 |