Do
you
remember
that
first
time?
...I
wasn't
there
when
in
1949
the
world
heard
Lata
Mangeshkar
sing
Hawaa
mein
udta
jaye
and
Aayega
aanewala...But
I'm
here
to
hear
Himani
Kapoor
sing
Jab
jab
saiyan
for
composer
Aadesh
Shrivastava
in
Kalpana
Lajmi's
tale
of
the
fallen
'fraulein'
Chingari.
Listen
to
Himani
....
Or
see
Ranbir
Kapoor
rehearse
for
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali's
Saanvariya.....or
Anil
Kapoor's
daughter
Sonam
Kapoor
.....watch
Sammir
Dattani
in
the
rushes
of
Mani
Shankar's
espionage
tale
Mukhbir....or
when
19-year
old
Kangana
rips
the
screen
apart
in
Gangster
and
Woh
Lamhe...
time
stops
still
as
those
minty
montages
of
emotions
move
across
your
ear
and
eye
level
in
swift
swimming
motions
of
spontaneous
emotions.
That
magical
moment
when
you
feel
the
earth
shake
beneath
your
feet,
when
a
newcomer
strides
stealthily
on
screen
to
claim
your
undivided
attention....it's
a
moment
that
defines
the
motion-picture
experience.
It
happened
with
Kareena
Kapoor
in
J.P.
Dutta's
Refugee.
From
that
moment
when
Kareena
raised
the
flap
of
her
burqa
to
slap
water
on
her
parched
face,
she
never
stopped
making
a
splash.
Or
Hrithik
Roshan....That
moment
when
he
first
strode
on
screen
with
a
guitar
in
hand
accompanied
by
the
sounds
of
screaming
fans
who
clapped
and
cheered
from
the
studio
auditorium....
Those,
I
believe,
were
the
two
best
debut
performances
I've
seen
....comparable
with
Sharmila
Tagore
in
Kashmir
Ki
Kali
and
Dimple
Kapadia
in
Bobby.
That
moment
when
Shammi
Kapoor
first
glimpsed
the
Kashmiri
beauty
or
when
Rishi
Kapoor
reluctantly
appeared
at
his
17th
birthday
party
and
saw
this
timid,
awkward
beauty
in
a
short
dress
standing
among
the
gaudily
dressed
party
guests
in
Bobby...these
are
keep-sake
movie
montages.
Like
Shah
Rukh
Khan,
Akshay
Kumar
and
John
Abraham,
Sammir
Dattani
came
in
from
the
cold.
"I
knew
absolutely
no
one
when
I
came.
My
folks
see
two
films
a
year.
Now
those
two
films
are
mine," jokes
Sammir.
But
he'll
have
to
contend
with
the
looming
presence
of
golden
star-kid
Ranbir
who
has
it
in
his
genes...That's
one
thing
the
average-or
not
so
average-wannabe
(or
are
they
now
called
wanna-beefs?)
from
within
the
industry
cannot
claim.
And
there
are
so
many
of
them
being
readied
for
a
rollicking
debut.
Three
major
producers
Harry
Baweja,
Suneel
Darshan
and
Vashu
Bhagnani
are
planning
to
launch
their
sons
as
heroes
in
the
next
two
years.
And
let
me
tell
you,
they
are
all
worthy
heir-apparents
who
are
pucca
star
material.
Imagine
what
pains
their
moneyed
privileged
producer-dads
would
take
over
their
son's
intro-appearance!
So
how
does
a
wannabe
from
the
outside
get
a
foot
into
filmdom?
Very
frankly
it's
next
to
impossible.
Either
you
get
yourself
a
daddy
or
a
sugar-daddy.
Sammir
had
neither.
Unlike
other
dynamic
debutantes
like
SRK
and
Kareena
who
strode
into
the
limelight
with
leonine
leaps
,
Sammir's
disastrous
debut
delayed
his
inevitable
stardom.
...So
much
like
Rajesh
Khanna
whose
first
three
films
Raaz,
Aurat
and
Baharon
Ke
Sapne
were
disasters.
Then
Aradhana
happened.
And
a
star
was
born!
It
happens
once
in
while...We
saw
that
magical
moment
unfurl
when
Jaya
Bhaduri
as
Guddi
rushed
in
to
the
school
prayers
singing
Humko
man
ki
shakti
dena
...And
when
Mumtaz
(belatedly
after
years
of
struggle)
pirouetted
provocatively
on
screen
to
the
sound
of
Bindiya
chamkegi
in
Do
Raaste.
Songs
and
music
are
an
essential
part
of
star-birth.
From
Madhubala
in
Mahal
to
Madhuri
Dixit
in
Hum
Aapke
Hain
Koun...so
many
stars
have
acquired
star-stature
through
Lataji's
singing.
When
and
how
that
combustive
moment
occurs,
when
a
star
is
born,
is
beyond
anyone's
lucid
comprehension.
Was
it
the
moment
when
Ajay
Devgan
zoomed
into
sight
striding
two
motor-cycles
simultaneously
in
Phool
Aur
Kante....Or
was
it
the
moment
when
Kumar
Gaurav
sang
Dekho
meine
dekha
hai
ek
sapna
to
Vijayta
Pandit
in
Love
Story...
Ajay's
co-star
Madhoo
and
Gaurav's
singing-romancing
partner
Vijayta
are
long
retired
and
happily
married.
Strange,
but
between
the
debut-making
lead
pair
only
one
aspirant
gets
a
chance
to
be
successful.
It
was
Madhuri
Dixit
and
not
Tapas
Paul
in
Abodh,
Karisma
and
not
Harish
in
Prem
Qaidi,
Kajol
and
not
Kamal
Sadanah
in
Bekhudi,
Salman
Khan
and
not
Bhagyashree
in
Maine
Pyar
Kiya.
Fortunate
favours
a
few.
With
star-kids
Ranbir
Kapoor,
Sonam
Kapoor,
and
non-star-
Sammir
Dattani
and
model
Shivani
Kapoor,
the
new
generation
of
matinee
idols
is
visible.