The agony of stardom

It was the ecstasy and the agony. A privileged young actor hitting a new high in his already successful career. A beautiful young actress descending into tragic depths. On Monday night, while Ranbir Kapoor and the team of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani were luxuriating in praise and record box-office collections, Jiah Khan, 25, finally gave up on life.

In both cases, all was not what it seemed. It was complicated. Both joy and infinite sorrow had shades and layers. It’s not easy to handle success or failure, a romance or a breakup in B-Town. Ranbir Kapoor has shown he can handle it all and more; Jiah Khan couldn’t.

First, her family said it was the frustration of waiting for her career to take off. Ram Gopal Varma (director of her debut film, Nishabd ) revealed that she had confessed to him that she felt like a failure.

Then a boyfriend came in: Sooraj Pancholi, son of actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab. Next, Jiah’s mother Rabiya alleged that Sooraj had got violent with her. A six-page letter allegedly written by Jiah was unearthed.

A new revelation emerged every day — Sooraj had beaten her, she had had an abortion. Salman Khan, whose own love life has been a minefield, had been brought in to counsel the couple. And Jiah was upset because Sooraj did not introduce her to the superstar, in whom she saw new hope for her career. The stories kept trickling in.

Portrait of despair

Paint in the shades one by one and a poignant portrait emerges of a young girl desperately unhappy in love and desperate for success. Success as defined by the film industry, the media, maybe her family. Her mother, Rabiya, herself an actress who couldn’t make it in the industry, is said to have declared that Jiah would be the next big thing after Nishabd . That’s enormous pressure on a teenager who wanted to fulfil her mother’s ambition.

Jiah was luckier than most in the film industry. She had starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Nishabd (2007) and with Aamir Khan in Ghajini (2008), followed by the multi-starrer Housefull (2010). But after that, nothing for three years. She was choosy, said a friend. It was not that she could not find work; she could not get the kind of roles or films she wanted.

As for the romance gone wrong, who can say in matters like this? We do not know what drove Jiah to that desperate step but there must have been a combination of pressures that built up gradually. I hope this doesn’t sound cruel or insensitive, but many other actresses have gone through worse — and survived.

Thousands of aspiring actresses have to deal with the ‘f’ word. Many don’t even get a look-in and go home, their spirit broken. Those who don’t want to return or give up, stay afloat any which how — they find work in television or modelling or latch on to a sugar daddy. And exploitative, abusive or soul-destroying relationships are too common to count when it comes to actresses.

From Madhubala to Meena Kumari to Helen to Rekha to Aishwarya Rai, the stories are legendary. Some pull themselves out of the depths and manage to find happiness, fulfilment and peace. Family support plays a crucial part, because, given the industry’s treacherous ways, most stars quickly reach a point where they can trust only family. (Sometimes, even that last bastion betrays them.) Very few make it through the dark tunnel without a helping hand from family; Rekha and Helen are among the few who did so.

Fragile young Jiah Khan, surrounded though she was by love from family, simply couldn’t cope.

Picture of success

Cut to another part of B-Town. Ranbir Kapoor has been much in the news — but non-visible — after the phenomenal success of his latest film, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani . No big celebratory interviews, no pictures, no PR stories strategically leaked; all we hear is that he’s at work on the sets of his next film, Besharam . The few quotes he’s given play down his role in the film’s success. He’s playing it cool, very cool.

That’s part strategy and part personality. Bragging or even exultation in public is simply not Ranbir Kapoor’s personal style. A respectful nod to his director and co-stars and he moves on. He’s even more circumspect and respectful in public when it comes to his women — no wonder they line up for him. Has Ranbir been luckier than Jiah? Yes and no. Being the child of a film star is never easy; to have schoolmates taunt you about your father’s or mother’s alleged affairs, escapades or flops is tough on young minds. Wealth can cushion children only up to a point. Ranbir has seen his parents’ marriage go through troubled times and his father was a distant figure for much of his childhood (he has talked about both honestly). As is often the case in B-Town, his mother Neetu provided the love and stability that saw him through.

When he set out to be an actor, the pressures on him to live up to Raj and Rishi Kapoor’s legendary reputations must have been enormous. But he took his own decisions, and brave ones at that. He has often said, matter-of-factly, that his privileged background freed him from worrying about money and allowed him to make those choices. As usual, Ranbir doesn’t give himself too much credit (in public at least) — many of our actors have enough money behind them to take risks, but don’t.

Ten on track

Ranbir’s track record at the ten films mark is incredible by Bollywood standards. At that point, Aamir Khan was just discovering himself with Dil and Dil Hai ki Manta Nahin and would go on to make some turkeys too. Ditto for Shah Rukh and Salman Khan. But Ranbir has slipped just once: with Anjaana Anjaani . Though Rocket Singh flopped, nobody can take away his superbly controlled performance in it.

Even as he downplays his success, Ranbir will tell you in all seriousness, “I want to be the biggest star in the industry one day.” I sensed no bravado or swagger in those words, just intense focus and determination. Ranbir Kapoor has set his sights far higher than Rs 100 crore or mere blockbusters. And my guess is that he will get there.

shashibaliga@gmail.com

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