Ask Anupam
Anupam Kher on Acting

Everyone, everywhere is talking about Hrithik Roshan, the son of Rakesh Roshan who, with just one film has created havoc all over. A star is born, a star is born, every man, woman and child says, every magazine and newspaper goes on and on telling tall stories about him. There are fans who are willing to slit their wrists for the love of him. There are fans who are willing to be run over by his car. There are fans who are willing to spend as much money as they can just to have a glimpse of Hrithik. There are girls who run after his car only to note down his car number. They stagger and fall outside studios only to touch or kiss his car. There are children who ring up every telephone number of people connected with film and ask them if they can get them a chance to have just one meeting with Hrithik. Something like this, something so crazy has never happened with any other star, with the rare exceptions of Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia after the release of Bobby. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan also had their share of maddening popularity but nothing like this has happened with any other instant star.

All this is very good and all this is working wonders for Hrithik and all the best to Hrithik. But have you ever tried to think of what these unbelievable scenes of Hrithik can do to hundreds and thousands of other boys and girls who frankly believe that if Hrithik can make it they too can?

In the last three months I have met boys and girls who want to make it as actors and their only argument is that if Hrithik, the handsome young man, who was his father’s assistant and production boy, serving chai to stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan and also his first assistant and production boy could make it, they too could. Some said that they were better equipped and talented than Hrithik and all they needed was a father like Rakesh Roshan, a chance, just one chance, some Godfather since they had no father to promote them but Hrithik had his father Rakesh Roshan.

This reminds me of a sad but interesting story of a well-known director who had been making films for several decades. A young man walked up to him one day and had the guts to show him his photographs and tell him about his ambition to make it as an actor. The filmmaker made the mistake of saying "Na jaane kahan kahan se chale aate hain. Tumhari shakal dekhi hai kabhi tumne aaine mein. Hum kya, tumhe koi bhi chance nahi de sakta." (I don’t know from where all these boys come to make it as actors. Have you ever seen your face in the mirror? Go, go you just get lost, I am already too preoccupied with my own worries.) The young man in a flash of a moment slapped the veteran director straight in his face and left him staggering in the compound of Natraj Studios. And when he came into his own the young man said "if that brat," Ajay Devgan, can make it as a hero why not me and ran away for the fear of being arrested by the police. The truth of the matter is that Ajay made it as a star, as a superstar and now even the owner of his own entertainment company, all on his own. And his success has inspired/forced all those boys with or without any personality to try and become other Ajay Devgans without unfortunately knowing or trying to understand that only one in several thousands succeed to make it as even just a little like the original Ajay Devgan. Then an alarming thing happened when an unknown boy, Shah Rukh Khan, the son of a kerosene retail shop owner, came to Mumbai and took just a few months to make it and is today the number one success story in Hindi films. Shah Rukh set the Ganga, the Jamuna, the Saraswati and every other river on fire. He was an ordinary looking boy with everything about him just ordinary. There was nothing physically attractive about him but there was the passion of an actor which smouldered the sparks of which could be seen. He had done some major plays in Delhi. He had made a mark as an actor in TV serials like Circus and Fauji. He then took off with films like King Uncle, Deewana, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa but he really showed what he was with films like Darr, Anjaam, Baazigar, Koyla, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Dil To Pagal Hai. And by the time he had finished doing his first ten films he was crowned "King Khan", the number one male star of Hindi films.

There has been some kind of embarrassing situations in recent times soon after the super success of Hrithik Roshan. There have been people who have been trying to pull down the "King" and put Hrithik in his place but Hrithik himself has no such ambitions at all. He says: "How can I be compared to the man whom I considered my teacher when I was an assistant? Let people say what they want but for me Shah Rukh is still the greatest." Of late, there have been many such instant success stories which have brought in a number of boys and girls to Mumbai making the already desperate scenes more desperate.

The blind following of the success stories is one more addition, a disease which is afflicting more and more youngsters. It started with the very beginning when hundreds of young boys destroyed themselves trying to become other Dilip Kumars, Dev Anands and Raj Kapoors. The other stars like Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Shammi Kapoor also brought in boys who wanted to be successful like them. The worst happened when Rajesh Khanna who was rejected by many as a Gurkha worked his way to grow into one of the greatest superstars, a fact accepted by one and all. Then came the unbeatable Amitabh Bachchan about whom Shashi Kapoor said when he heard of the number of young men coming to Mumbai to follow in the footsteps of the Bachchan: "Why don’t all these young men who want to be like Amitabh Bachchan think that just by being as tall as him and having a booming voice you cannot be another Amitabh Bachchan. They can’t. The simple reason being because they can’t. The sooner they realise this, the better." Then there was the case of Mithun Chakraborty who had absolutely no personality, who had the background of having been a Naxalite and yet made it as a star who had twenty-two releases in a week at one time. His story was enough to bring in boys from all over the East of India to Mumbai to make it as other Mithuns.

To think of it, even Dara Singh, the Rustom-e-Hind, the wrestler who turned actor, led a number of wrestlers to take to acting. But only his younger brother, Randhawa, succeeded. But the others atleast got jobs as wrestlers and fighters in the any number of films made with Dara Singh. These stories prove that imitation doesn’t pay, imitation doesn’t work out success stories, imitation doesn’t take you places. You have to be yourself, you have to have your own identity, you have to be you if you have to succeed. You cannot try to be someone big by imitating someone else. So please don’t try to follow, follow even the ape and join the "Dal" of the damned and frustrated by becoming imitative. Mimics make more money than actors, I’ve realised. So stop being someone else and try being yourself and you will see the difference.

Himajit Dutta, Mumbai:
Where should I meet a producer, in his office or in his studio?
The best place to meet a producer is in his office after seeking an appointment. It is very difficult to meet a producer in a studio because these are the places where he is most troubled, very tense and not his real self. So take care and catch him in a good mood and who knows you may have a great future. You catch him at the wrong time and who knows...

Sham Raj, MP:
My father is a minister but he doesn’t want me to join politics. He wants me to be an actor. He is willing to spend any amount of money to make me an actor. He wants you, Anupam, to guide me. What should I do?
Your father’s influence as a politician can help him start a film on his own to make you as an actor. You cannot continue to be an actor unless you are born to be an actor. Try to explain this to your father when he has the time from his active politics and he may understand. If not you and your father I think are trying to play with fire because acting and making films is not as easy as playing politics.