The lethal father-son duos in Bollywood; Taking talents through generations

We are about to enter the New Year, and the first treat that we will be receiving is ‘Kaabil’, which is yet another offering from the talented father-son duo, Rakesh Roshan and Hrithik Roshan. Though this time, Roshan Sr. is not directing, but we can still expect figures rolling at the box office. Be it ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ or even ‘Koi… Mil Gaya’ franchise, this father-son duo has always managed to enthrall us with something different and daring. That got us thinking, there are many father-son duos in Bollywood that have talent flowing in the genes.

Take for instance Javed Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar. The son of the storyteller and lyricist, the one who has given us innumerable beautiful creations, Farhan himself is a versatile performer. The duo’s success can be seen from the beautiful tracks woven into equally relatable stories like Farhan’s maiden directorial venture ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, or even the next one ‘Lakshya’, or even ‘Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara’, where Farhan was the producer.

Though we have not seen Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan on screen together often, but we cannot forget the heart rending chemistry the duo shared in the movie ‘Paa’, where the two reversed their real life roles. The movie, needless to say, was not just a critical success, winning award after award, but also a commercial one, touching hearts across the nation.

Another successful father-son duo can be Late Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra. Both of them are the scions of Yash Raj Films, which is known to belt out refreshing and beautiful romances one after the other. Be it Yash ji’s ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, or Aditya’s ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, both have their own unique voice, but the quintessential gene that makes the romance different from that of others. With the latest offering ‘Befikre’, Aditya has further taken a leap and taken a bolder course into new-gen romance.

Of course, we cannot forget ‘The Showman’, Late Raj Kapoor, who gave us gems like ‘Sangam’, ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’, Prem Rog’, and ‘Bobby’, to name a few, starring his sons Rishi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, and Rajiv Kapoor. The genius that this man was, he extracted the best performances out of all his sons, in the brilliant plots that he weaved.

We know that there are people like Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, and the likes, who made big in industry without an ounce of filmy gene, but if you consider the aforesaid mentions, we can surely say that sometimes, gene pool does matter, and when there is so much talent to bestow through generations, we would love to see it thrive in Bollywood.

Kadambari Srivastava

Grammar Nazi, word weaver, dreamer, bibliophile, technophile, caffeine addict, foodie, shuttling shopaholic! Mash it in a Bollywood recipe and voila! Pushpa, you’ve got her!