Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Parineeti Chopra: Bollywood’s young brigade doesn’t believe in a breather

The Khans might be taking it slow with just one release (or two) in a year, but it looks like the younger crop is making the most of the ‘vacant Fridays’, their hands full with multiple films — some wrapped up, some being shot, some being recently announced. The likes of Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Parineeti Chopra, Tiger Shroff, Taapsee Pannu, among several others, are working on films after films.

Calling it an “amazing trend”, filmmaker Remo D’Souza says, “All these young actors know they’re so splendid, hence they are making the most of it. Also, they’re not juggling shoots for two films — they finish one and then immediately start the next one. It’s not that they leave anything halfway and jump on the other one and then come back to the first, so, that’s the best part. So, if you can manage your dates and do these films back to back, it’s great.”

Filmmaker Vipul Shah feels the same way — he says that this “wonderful process is going to make these young actors bigger stars” in a short span of time. “I believe that the Khans or the likes of Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn have been here for more than 25 years, so if they are doing fewer films, that’s understandable, because they all have more than 100 films to their name. But for the younger generation actors, the more they work, the better they’ll become and reach out to a larger audience. To attain the level of these top stars, they need a few films in their bag first. So, they’re all doing the right thing by doing more than one film in a year.”

Trade expert Atul Mohan puts it in perspective, saying, “This used to be quite normal in the ’70s and ’80s, but that was different, as cinema was the only source of entertainment. The stars of that time made way for the new breed of superstars — the Khans — who did multiple films for a while, but then started this trend of reserving themselves [for a few films]. It’s good that younger actors are working towards [their own superstardom].”

While trade experts and filmmakers hail this ‘somewhat continuing’ trend, the actors themselves feel that it has got a lot to do with their age and the time they have in the film industry. Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan feels that age does play a role in this strategy of doing films back to back. She says, “When I was young, or if I was Alia’s age, I was also doing 10 films at a time. But, I’m not that age now. When Aamir started doing one film in a year, it became a sort of a statement; these actors are making a statement in their own way.”

Varun Dhawan adds, “When I saw my dad making films in the ’80s and ’90s, most actors were doing multiple films at the same time, which I feel was a wise thing to do. For me, I’m very young right now, and I have the stamina to do more than just one film in a year, so even if it’s difficult, I try and push myself to do that.”

Interact with Monika Rawal Kukreja at Twitter/@monikarawal