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Whether Abhishek Bachchan as an actor will outshine the Big B, only time will tell but there have been a number of examples in Bollywood when star daughters or sons have outshone their gifted parents, writes Surendra Miglani
Ram Gopal Verma, who directed Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek Bachchan in Sarkar, has said that he found Abhishek to be more talented than the Big B. One really does not know whether time will prove him right or not. But there have been a number of cases in Bollywood in which the star sons or daughters have outclassed their talented parent(s). Prithviraj Kapoor was quite a big name in film and stage acting. But his son, Raj Kapoor, proved to be one up. In acting, he formed the famous trio with Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand in the fifties and sixties and as producer, director and editor, he proved to be a cinematic genius. Even today, a number of top filmmakers admit that Raj has always been source of inspiration. Raj’s son, Randhir Kapoor, became a big star of the Hindi screen. Later he and Babita, his co-star in several movies and a successful heroine in her own right, tied the knot. However, their daughter, Karishma, attained commercial success which neither Randhir nor Babita ever did. Shobhna Samarth, one of the most successful heroines of the fifties, particularly in the mythological genre, while launching her daughters Nutan and Tanuja in Hamaari Beti, must not have imagined the heights that the former will scale. She outshone not only her talented mother but also most other past and even future actresses. Interestingly, Tanuja’s daughter, Kajol, did vis-à-vis her mother what her maternal aunt had done vis-à-vis her maternal grandmother. Incidentally, Kajol’s husband, Ajay Devgan, also went much higher than the levels attained by his action director and producer father, Veeru Devgan (about whose talent Amitabh spoke highly in a recent episode of KBC 2).
The Salim-Javed team brought the art of story writing to its pinnacle in the seventies and the eighties. For the first time in the history of Hindi films, story became the real "star," to quote a renowned film magazine. Javed, not only as a story-screenplay-dialogue writer, but also as a lyricist, achieved what his great lyricist father, Jaan Nissar Akhtar, never did. Javed’s wife, Shabana Azmi, too, has proved to be one of the greatest actresses of all times. Interestingly, like her husband, she, too, surpassed the greatness of her poet father, Kaifi Azmi. In fact, when somebody referred to Kaifi as "Shabana Azmi’s father" at a function, he protested against it, saying he had a distinct identity of his own. Gemini Ganesan may be a big name down south, what with 200-odd movies to his credit, but cine-goers now know him better as Rekha’s father. Suresh Oberoi has always been rated as a gifted artiste but he could never really come out of the "supporting actor" mould. However, his son, Vivek Oberoi, after making his debut in Ram Gopal Verma’s Company, has come to occupy the top bracket among stars. Jayant was a big name in the field of villainy but he never attained the exalted status which his son, Amjad Khan, later did in the wake of the stupendous success of Sholay. In fact, Amjad even showed his flair for comedy in movies like Love Story, Qurbani and Hum Se Badh Kar Kaun? Tarachand Barjatya may have produced any number of great movies but he never achieved the distinction which his son, Sooraj R. Barjatya, did while wielding the megaphone for Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun. The latter, in fact, ranks as the biggest Indian money-spinner film of all times. Similarly, Karan Johar, displayed much better business acumen than his father, Yash Johar, as a film producer besides being the director of such blockbusters as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (he holds the record of 100 per cent box-office success, both as producer and director). Vijay Bhatt was one of the top directors of the fifties and sixties with great hits like Ram Rajya, Baiju Bawra, Hariyali aur Raasta and Himalay Ki God Mein to his credit. But his son, Mahesh Bhatt, scaled the artistic and box-office heights which Vijay never did. His movies like Arth, Naam, Saraansh, Zakhm and Murder stand out as milestones in the history of Hindi cinema. Lyricist Sameer has attained such great heights, particularly when he teams up with Nadeem-Shravan, that one has been forced to consider him one-up on his lyricist father, Anjaan, who, too, was a great lyricist of his time. And can anybody deny that cinematographer Sameer Arya has already overtaken his great cinematographer father, Ishaan Arya? |
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