Born Lucky in Bollywood

In the dog eat dog world of Bollywood success stories are usually accompanied by tales of struggle and failure. But for every self-made SRK and Akshay, there's also an Aamir and Salman, born into filmi families and for whom the silver spoon has never tarnished. For many star kids, fame is often just a phone call away. Some make good on the intial leg up, others don't. But there's no doubting that for these stars ahead, the road to celebrity has been way smoother than for those without the right last name.

In the dog eat dog world of Bollywood success stories are usually accompanied by tales of struggle and failure. But for every self-made SRK and Akshay, there's also an Aamir and Salman, born into filmi families and for whom the silver spoon has never tarnished. For many star kids, fame is often just a phone call away. Some make good on the initial leg up, others don't. But there's no doubting that for these stars ahead, the road to celebrity has been way smoother than for those without the right last name.

Shakti Kapoor to the rescue. Three years after the actor defended his son's innocence in a drug case, Siddhant will star alongside greats like Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Sanjay Dutt in the Satte Pe Satta remake.
Daughter Shraddha Kapoor is also slowly but surely making her presence felt. Teen Patti had her debuting opposite Big B and Madhavan, and expectations ride high on this one.
Weight trainer Tiger Shroff, son of Jackie Shroff, has finally emerged out of his shell. Aamir Khan has apparently taken it upon himself to give his close friend's son's movie career a resounding push.
David Dhawan's son Varun has always been a favourite of Dharma productions, having assisted Karan on My Name Is Khan, but the good-looking lad got his big break with Student Of The Year. Sources claim he hit it off instantly with co-star Aalia Bhatt. More on her ahead…

With the Bhatt bloodline to her credit, it was only a matter of time before Aalia made it to the movies. AND she's already got a hook-up lined up.
Producer Vashu Bhagnani's son Jackky started working as an assistant director in 2003, but only got his big acting break with F.A.L.T.U. We loved his chocolate boy looks!
Arjun Kapoor, the 24-year-old son of Boney Kapoor is all set to make his big Bollywood debut with Yash Raj Films. However, latest buzz is that his launch pad with YRF, Virus Diwan, has been delayed due to a rift between the producers and the director of the film.

If your uncle is one of Bollywood's all time greats, it really helps when sticking your foot into the proverbial door. Aamir's nephew, Imran Khan is quickly becoming superstar material.
Ram Charan Teja is Chiranjeevi's baby boy. Is daddy's name enough to make the superstar cut?
And of course, there's Abhishek. A father who defines Bollywood and a mother with serious acting talent, how could Abhishek have failed to reach for the stars?

Ranbir Kapoor has three generations backing him up. The Khandaan's newest Kapoor jumped straight into Bollywood's melting pot without missing a beat.
Saif Ali Khan chose to follow mama Sharmila's showbiz footsteps rather than dad Pataudi's cricketing ones. Good decision, we say. Sister Soha is the latest bird to leave the Pataudi nest for Tinseltown.
Kapoor sisters Karisma and Kareena were a shoo-in into the film scene. With lineage like that, movies were meant to be. After all, drama runs in their blood.
Hrithik was an instant hit with his good looks, jitterbugging talent and acting chops. But we are sure carrying the Roshan name didn't hurt him.
So what if father dearest is a badminton champ? Pretty sure the Padukone name helped the vivacious Deepika's modeling and then movie career.
Khamosh! Sonakshi and Luv have made their entrance on screen. With daddy Shatrughan watching behind the scenes the two budding actors haven't a thing to worry about.
Tanuja's daughters Kajol and Tanisha also had major filmi backup with their Mukherjee genes. Today, Kajol is one of the biggest names in the industry.
On the other side of Kajol's family tree is Rani Mukherjee. The Mukherjee name worked for her too.
Anil Kapoor gave both his daughters a leg up. While Sonam debuted with Saawariya, Rhea turned producer with the Sonam starrer Aisha. No sleepless nights when Daddy's got his own banner.
Probably, Dharmendra ne Socha Na Tha that Abhay Deol will pack such a powerful punch. Once Dev D released, there was no denying that the Deols had done it again.
She got her mother's looks and father's talent. The apple of Kamal Haasan and Sarika's eye, Shruti Haasan has proved her versatility onscreen.
It pays if Mama is a critically acclaimed actress and filmmaker. And Konkana Sen, daughter of Aparna Sen, is laughing all the way to the bank.
The Babbar kids, Juhi and Arya, may have made the most of daddy Raj Babbar's name, but it's third sibling Prateik who is flying high.
Southern superstar Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya is turning out to be a force to reckon with. Beauty with brains, eh?
It's A for Akhtar, B for Bollywood for Javed's kids, the undeniably talented Farhan and Zoya.
Cousins Fardeen and Zayed have the Khan legacy as their safety net. The late Feroz Khan and Sanjay Khan did some pretty good networking for their boys.
The good looking Rana Daggubati, grandson of movie moghul D. Ramanaidu, made a grand entrance earlier this year. There are great expectations of the budding star, given the bloodline.
Tusshar Kapoor has created a niche for himself despite having made less than resounding success of daddy Jeetendra's good name.
Chiranjeevi's little brother Pawan Kalyan scored himself quite a number of hits. But is he out of big brother's shadow yet?
When director meets producer, they have Harman Baweja, son of director Harry Baweja. The still aspiring actor failed to inspire.
Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt chose nephew Emraan Hashmi to star in Footpath. There has been no looking back for the serial-kisser since.
Papa Vilasrao Deshmukh may be a political bigwig, but he had friends in the right filmi places. Riteish had no problem making his way onto the silver screen.
Pooja Bhatt snuck into Bollywood with TV movie Daddy. No prizes for guessing who directed.
First daddy Yash made him assistant director for Yash Raj Films. Then big bro Aditya gave Uday Chopra his acting break break in the blockbuster Mohabbatein. Uday's career remains afloat entirely because of the family Chopra.
Yesteryear heartbreaker Vinod Khanna's equally hunky sons, Akshaye and Rahul were welcomed into the industry with open arms.
Garam Dharam's betas Sunny and Bobby brought the Deol magic to their screen debuts.
As an aspiring director, Karan Johar had the Dharma Productions banner to fall back on. But it was uncle Yash Chopra and cousin Aditya who gave this budding talent his big break.
Esha Deol had a double whammy in both Dharmendra and Hema Malini - now that's what we call privilege.
Shakti Kapoor nudged daughter Shraddha into Teen Patti. Who better for Daddy's little girl to debut opposite than two Big B's - Amitabh and Ben Kingsley?
Moon Moon Sen was a proud mother hen when daughters Riya and Raima opted for a filmi fame and fortune.
Twinkle and Rinke Khanna had their parents' star power to help them along in B-town.
Anupam and Kirron Kher taught son Sikander a thing or two about making it big in Bollywood.
Being Kabir Bedi's daughter helped Pooja Bedi do a Marilyn Monroe in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander.
Imaad Shah capitalised on his parents talent pool when he made his impressive debut in Papa's film. He is a carbon copy of Naseeruddin Shah, maybe he'll match his father's success, movie for movie.
Mithun Chakraborty is a hard act to follow any way you look at it. Especially, if you are unfortunately named son Mimoh. The buzz around his launch onto screen was quickly replaced by sniggers as his fledgling career promptly nosedived.