Why it’s not easy to be the real-life sibling of a Bollywood celebrity
When actor Soha Ali Khan hilariously recounted her experiences of being mostly identified as ‘Saif Ali Khan’s sister’ and ‘Sharmila Tagore’s daughter’ throughout her life in her debut novel, The Perils of Being Moderately Famous, she must have her elder sister Saba Ali Khan, too, in her mind.
Soha is still moderately famous. Not many people have ever heard of Saba Ali Khan, who became the first woman muttawali — head of the Bhopal royals’ religious endowments in 2011, after Mansur Ali Khan’s death.
In her book, Soha said that she never felt ‘overshadowed’.
But that might not be the case for the all lesser-known siblings of the dazzlingly successful Bollywood celebrities. There are stories of both animosity and shared pride, and then there are some stories which rarely come to the public space.
Deepika Padukone’s sister Anisha Padukone is a golfer. But, as she said, it’s not easy.
“…there is not one, but two achievers in the family. Not much can be done about it, so you accept it,” Anisha once said about Deepika and father Prakash Padukone.
But Deepika is very proud of her little sister, as she always makes clear on all social media posts. Even while posting a news article on Anisha, titled “The Other Padukone”, Deepika made sure the “little one” does not feel hurt, and wrote how Anisha is not the “other Padukone”, but “The Padukone”.
The same, however, can’t be said about the Amitabh-Ajitabh Bachchan or Aamir Khan-Faisal Khan relationships.
Amitabh Bachchan’s brother, Ajitabh, who worked with him in his initial days in Bollywood, was not even invited to the Abhishek-Aishwariya wedding. Politics (Gandhi-Bachchan rift) and Amar Singh apparently had significant roles in building up the tension between the two Bachchans, which ebbed and flowed from time to time.
Ajitabh was reportedly writing a book on Amitabh, but the project never materialised.
Aamir Khan’s brother Faisal had a brief and forgettable Bollywood career as he appeared in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) and Mela (2000). But then, all was not well in the family. Faisal was apparently suffering from schizophrenia and an ensuing family feud went to court. Conspiracy theories of Aamir Khan spoiling his brother’s career, trying to corner him in the family, abounded. But all the rumours aside, we never got to know what actually happened.
There are some who have happily accepted the role of second fiddle. Like, Salman Khan’s brothers will never complain of being overshadowed by Bhai. Similarly, Rangoli, an acid attack survivor herself, has happily embraced the identity of being spokesperson of behen Kangana Ranaut.
Then there are a few who chose to escape the limelight.
There’s a lot of interest on the Internet about Shah Rukh Khan’s sister Shehnaz Lalarukh, who was reportedly suffering from depression after their father’s death.
People came to know about Hrithik Roshan’s elder sister, Sunaina, after she blogged her experience of battling cervical cancer. Hotelier Siddharth Chopra, brother of Priyanka Chopra, manages to dodge the limelight, even when there is such a craze about Priyanka. And after staying away from the family starlight for so long, Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter Shweta Bachchan has recently made some public appearances.
If it’s not easy to become the not-so-famous sibling of a celebrity, it’s neither easy to be a celebrity. For example, when producer Raja Mukerji was arrested on charges of molesting an actress, he was referred as ‘Rani Mukerji’s brother’ throughout.
It’s not easy. Either way.
Also Read: The Badshah and the Bhai: Why Indians love to watch their Karan and Arjun together