Depending on the way you look at it, Shahid Kapoor is either an underachiever or an overachiever. He started off as a teen heartthrob when he was just 22 with Ishq Vishq. After that his career took a steady ascent and then within a few years zoomed off until he had become established in the A-list.
Coming from a lineage that boasted of a superlative actor in his father Pankaj Kapur, it was possible that he could even reach the very top. But then there was a nosedive with movies flopping relentlessly. A major project that he was banking on, Mausam, directed by his father, bombed.
It took Haider, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by Vishal Bhardwaj in 2014, to resuscitate his career. But then the next year Shaandaar flopped. This year Udta Punjab got him critical acclaim and the movie also fared decently at the box office.
Shahid really has not had any blockbusters to his credit over the last many years but manages to be in the reckoning by being part of projects which have critical and mildly commercial appeal. But he needs a big one sooner or later.
And it might just come in the form of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali project Padmavati. Bhansali’s last two movie Ram Leela and Bajirao Mastani have been huge hits and it has made him one of the most sought after directors in town. Padmavati is his next historical period drama around a Rajput queen whose fabled beauty becomes a reason for a war between two kingdoms. Ranveer Singh is believed to be Bhansali’s choice to play the role of Alauddin Khilji who covets the queen played by Deepika Padukone.
The star who is said to have been offered the role of Padmavati’s husband, Raja Raval Ratan is Shahid. While this should be a good thing for Shahid, he seems to be making a few demands. He wanted his role to be enhanced so that it does not look like he is playing second fiddle to Ranveer and there were reports that he also wanted his fee hiked. While these demands might be understandable in a star, the fact is that his market value is really not comparable to Ranveer, who has a history of big blockbusters at the moment.
Meanwhile, Shahid also had some good news on the personal front by becoming a father. He has taken some time off to be with his new-born girl and will return to work after that.

A parting?
Mahesh Bhatt and Vikram Bhatt both share the same surname but they are not related. They do however have a working relationship that stretches across decades. Vikram, who came from a family of filmmakers, got into the trade very early assisting directors like Shekhar Kapur and Mahesh.
It was Mahesh who gave him his break as a director with Jaanam. Vikram’s first hit would come many years later and he remained a favourite of the Bhatts. When Mahesh was making Ghulam and its star Aamir Khan decided that the director was not focusing enough on the movie, it was to Vikram that Mahesh handed over the reins of the movie which went on to become a blockbuster.
Even when the Bhatts moved away from big stars, Vikram remained a key element of their success, directing a number of hits for them like Raaz, which became so successful that he is making a fourth sequel to it for the Bhatts.
But there was also a news report that suggested that Vikram might be shifting away from the Bhatt camp. He was apparently making a web series on his own and had shifted to his own office. His move was attributed to the Bhatts increasingly leaning on Mohit Suri, who has delivered a number of big hits for them. Vikram and Mahesh both deny that there is any parting of ways and that they would continue collaborating.

Always absent
It is no mystery why film stars whose best days are behind them go into politics. It keeps them in the limelight and, when it comes to politics, the middles age is actually young since most of the peers are also of the same age bracket.
But some stars choose the hard route of becoming active in political life and contesting elections. People like Shatrughan Sinha and Vinod Khanna, for example. Elections are hard fought and they therefore have a rightful claim to be a politician. But then there are those who are nominated into the Upper Houses and to many such celebrities this is just a hobby. Some don’t even take that seriously.
Recently, the attendance of Parliamentarians were revealed and the person who was at the bottom of the list was Rekha. She had been present only 5 per cent of the time. In effect ever since she had been nominated in 2012, Rekha had really not bothered to go much at all. Predictably there is an outrage at such a lackadaisical approach to a very important position.
As usual, Rekha has not commented on it and no one expects her to either. The real mystery is why accept such a nomination when she has no interest in it.

Exit time
Ekta Kapoor made history in Indian television when she launched family melodramas that went on to garner the highest viewership. It made her company Balaji Telefilms an entertainment powerhouse. She then turned her attention to movies and after a shaky start began to churn out quite a few hits like Ragini MMS, Dirty Picture and Ek Villain in recent times.
But the last few years haven’t really been very kind to them on the movie front. Almost all of their projects including Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 and Great Grand Masti have flopped, while Udta Punjab might just have recovered costs. But it still comes as surprise that the company might be giving up on making movies altogether. While officially there is no confirmation about this, in interviews its CEO has spoken of how they are rethinking their strategy.
Many of the recent flops were sleazy sex comedies while the movies that worked were ones with good plots and directors. So maybe the company is just reading the market wrong.

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Shahid Kapoor has managed to keep himself in the limelight with smart movie choices.