A new road to stardom
Abhishek, Rohan, Anoushka and Omar may have followed their renowned fathers in their professions but there are some celebrity children who dare to dream differently and have become famous in their own fields, says Gyan Marwah

For celebrity children it has often been a Hobson’s choice. Either follow the profession of their illustrious parent or be bold and choose their own destiny.

Most like Ravi Shankar’s daughter Anoushka, Amitabh Bachchan’s son Abhishek, Husain’s son Shamshad, Gavaskar’s son Rohan, Shahnaz Hussain’s daughter Nilofer, Farooq Abdullah’s son Omar and others accept this as preordained and follow their famous parenttracks.

But there are exceptions as well. Not the run-of-the-mill exceptions. But of those celebrity kids who want to achieve eminence in their own right and in their own chosen field.

CELEB TRAIL: Ritu Kumar with son Ashwin, a filmmaker; and artist Jatin Das with actor  daughter Nandita

Take, for example, Tarun Tahiliani. Son of India’s former naval chief, he is the country’s top fashion designer. Admiral Tahiliani says he never pressurised his son to follow in his footsteps. He credits Tarun for taking his own decisions in life.

If a former naval chief’s son is a leading fashion designer then nobody should be surprised when a leading fashion designer’s son becomes a filmmaker.

Ashwin Kumar, the 27-year-old son of ace fashion designer Ritu Kumar, had a lucrative profession cut out for him. But he chose film-making over fashion designing. A postgraduate from London Film School, Ashwin warns, "Don’t ask me the obvious question why I didn’t become a fashion designer."

And his interest has turned into his profession. Road To Ladakh, written and directed by Ashwin, starred Irfan Khan and Koel Purie. He then went on to make the critically acclaimed Little Terrorist. Both the films did very well on the international film festival circuit and television channels worldwide.

Art and films mix well in the Das household as well. Painting should have come naturally to the daughter of India’s celebrated artist Jatin Das. "It did," says Nandita, "but I stopped painting when I was in the eighth class because people would say, ‘Oh, you are Jatin’s daughter, so when are you going to start painting?’ Just because my father is a painter was not reason enough for me to be one."

After her postgraduation from Delhi School of Social Work, Nandita joined Safdar Hashmi’s Janmnatya Manch doing street theatre. "It was during these days she visited Mumbai and happened to meet Deepa Mehta who signed her for Fire. "I accepted the offer as the role was very challenging and the theme very bold."

Even after a dozen movies, this half-Oriya-half-Gujarati girl says she takes on only those roles that she knows she’ll enjoy doing. And these have included such cinematic milestones as Govind Nihlani’s Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, Shyam Benegal’s Hari Bhari, Deepa Mehta’s Fire, Earth, Bawander and many more, including Provoked and the critically awaited Ramchand Pakistani.

Besides, Nandita is acting in a host of regional films like Azhagi [Tamil], Deveeri [Kannada], Punaradhivasam [Malayalam] and Sapner Sandhane [Bengali].

Ritu Kumar’s son Ashwin, too, is going the Nandita Das way in contemporary cinema. And he is equally committed. He has no regrets of not becoming a fashion designer and says he’s creatively satisfied with his filmmaking. His other short films include First Day Out, Sam and Cricket. He has two production houses — one in London called Rasa Pictures and the other, Post Solutions, in Delhi.

Unlike Ashwin who successfully pursued his childhood dream, Annie Thomas could not achieve her career goal so she set new ones for herself. She says she wanted to be either a doctor or a nun. But she could become neither so she took to modelling and entered the 1999 Miss India beauty pageant.

Annie’s mother Rachael Thomas is the much felicitated India’s first and only civilian woman skydiver. But she says she never had the brave heart of her mother to jump out of airplanes from dizzying heights. Despite not following in her mother’s footsteps, Annie holds her in high esteem. "She’s still my idol," she says.

Of course, celebrities may be finding it hard to resist pushing their children into their own profession. But when kids want to go their own way, there’s not much the parents can do. However, once there’s success in the air... well that’s what the parents have been wanting all along. Chips of the old block? Well`85not really, but certainly masters and mistresses of their own destinies. — NF

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