Bollywood's most over-rated

Raj Kapoor had blue eyes and an endearing smile. Dev Anand was dashing and irresistible. Dilip Kumar’s boyishness was in a class of its own. Shammi had sex appeal. Shashi had killer looks…That perhaps explained why they were able to rule over hearts and minds for so long. But how does one explain some of the others who also mysteriously had a long, happy innings at the box office? Here are Bollywood’s most over-rated stars. Rajendra Kumar: In the looks department, not bad looking; in the acting department, he was a poor version of his self-professed idol, Dilip Kumar. But count his hits and there are clearly no rivals. Jubilee Kumar made the box office registers ring louder than the school bell at class time. [caption id=“attachment_86515” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Jumping Jack’s dancing talents, his never-say-die enthusiasm went for him. Reuters”] [/caption] Starting as a son, (Mother India) he went on to play the hero against two generations of actresses, from Ameeta (Goonj Uthi Shehnai), Meena Kumari ( Dil ek Mandir) and Mala Sinha (Dhool ka Phool) to Saira Banu(Aman) and Sadhana( Mere Mehboob). The roles were romantic and his films ruled in the days when music was king. He lip synced to Mohammad Rafi’s voice and that made it easy for fans to fall over themselves to watch his films. Manoj Kumar: Good looking yes, but not rugged enough, they said, and he can’t really act. His idolisation of Dilip Kumar was evident in his mannerisms on screen, and in the screen name he adopted, from the name of his hero in Shabnam. Manoj Kumar’s somewhat vulnerable looks got him roles in suspense films, Woh Kuan Thi, Mera Saya ( both ghost stories opposite Sadhana), and Gumnaam with Nanda. Astutely, he created a genre for himself with Upkaar, Shaheed, Roti Kapda aur Makaan, and Purab aur Paschim which made the storyline the most important player, and earned for him the title of Mr Bharat.The themes of his films, and the songs in them, ensured that he continued to find favour with directors and filmgoers alike. But no film sold solely on Manoj Kumar’s name as  the hero! Joy Mukherjee: The fact that he was film producer Sashadhar Mukherjee’s son and Ashok Kumar’s nephew cannot alone explain his phenomenal success. Joy Mukherjee has starred opposite Asha Parekh, Sadhana, Saira Banu among others in more than 26 films, with a string of hits to his credit. Despite his unchanging expression and the pained look he donned when he expressed his feelings towards his leading ladies on screen, his films drew crowds, thanks to the racy song sequences and the fact that by some strange coincidence his locales seemed to move only between Tokyo and verdant hill stations like Shimla. Jeetendra: They gave him white shoes to wear with white pants, they called him Jumping Jack. He started off against newcomer Rajeshree in her father’s film( Geet Gaya Patharo Ne) and teamed with the  likes of  Komal, Rekha and Mumtaz ( before they became huge stars), and overtook all of them in popularity. Jeetendra ‘s dialogue delivery was abysmal, it was almost a text book example for acting teachers on how not to speak your lines. But Gulzar cast him in Khushboo, because the box office liked him! Jumping Jack’s dancing talents, his never-say-die enthusiasm went for him; go to watch a film with him as hero, and you know you can put your feet up and let the mind shut shop for three hours of song and dance and tomfoolery. [caption id=“attachment_86516” align=“alignleft” width=“400” caption=“Bollywood has hung on Saif , and offered him roles that sank without a trace. Reuters”] [/caption] Harman Baweja: No one knows for sure if he did get that look-like-Hrithik surgery done or not, though why someone should want to be labelled a poor man’s version of a director’s obviously gifted son is a mystery. His very first film got him an award too for best male newcomer but his films were all pure lead. Despite that his hopes live high. Three years in a row he has been nominated for the Stardust awards that label him Superstar of tomorrow! Tusshar Kapoor: Lucky father, luckier sis, but Dame Luck has played a hide and seek game with this aspirant to his father’s status. The actor has notched up 26 movies notched up in a decade and still survives though almost all have been flops. His co-star, Kareena Kapoor who debuted with him is within reach of the number One slot. Tusshar just goes on, and on, and on. The Force is obviously with him! Family force, to be exact.   And despite his huge fan following we must add: Saif Ali Khan:  He has failed miserably to step into Shashi Kapoor’s chocolate boy image, despite Ole Ole. He has proved that being dimpled and wearing dancing shoes was not enough. Yet Bollywood has hung on him, and offered him roles that sank without a trace. It took a Dil Chahta Hai to give him a role that seemed an extension of his personality, and a Vishal Bharadwaj to allow him to show some real character with Omkara. Perhaps a good role can be his saviour yet. But for now despite all the box office love, he still remains the squeaky voiced chhote nawab!