Every father expects his son to be more successful, more famous, more powerful. Celebrities are no exception

In the Hindi film world, there have been several instances of star sons disappointing their dads. There have also been sons who somehow managed to reach the level of success attained by their parents.

Real showstoppers have been some sons who achieved what their dads couldn’t garner in a lifetime—be it moolah, fan-following or simply awards—as they had grown up in an environment where success was elusive and therefore the passionate, almost obsessive, drive to outshine and outsmart kept them focused on claying up a bright future.

With a rich, baritone voice, one expected swashbuckling Indian actor Suresh Oberoi to carve a niche for himself. Unable to sustain himself as a lead actor, he managed to survive in the industry by accepting small supporting, stereotypical roles that did not quite give him the latitude to showcase his potential.

The rise of the next generation was all set to turn the tide and translate his unfulfilled dreams of being a matinee idol into eagerly anticipated reality.

Suresh’s son Vivek Oberoi, an arriviste with a no-nonsense attitude, made a splash in the industry as top-notch film directors like Subhash Ghai and Ram Gopal Verma roped him in for projects like Kisna, Company, Dum.

It couldn’t have possibly gotten better than this for a rank newcomer who did not have a powerful lineage or cognomen to boast of or bank on. Shaad Ali’s Saathiya opposite Rani Mukherjee became a runaway hit and the parvenu was propelled into the big league of star sons.

Dizzy with success, he considered himself the most eligible bachelor in town who had beauty queens turned heroines drooling over him. He was engaged in wooing one such leading starlet and his focus shifted from the professional field to winning the lady love first.

It grew into a sort of obsession and he started taking his fledgling career a little too easily with the inevitable result that producers started looking for substitutes when his films did not set the box office on fire.

Mismanaging his career and taking himself very seriously as a star cost him dearly. Bad press and PR machinery made matters worse as he could not prioritise issues and wanted everything a tad too fast.

His success was short-lived though he can claim that he dazzled like a meteor and made his father proud of achieving so much in such a short span of time.

Shootout at Lokhandwala, a multi-starrer, did help Vivek in breaking the jinx, in regaining some of the lost ground but he is still widely known as one actor who messed up his personal life and ruined his career, unable to keep these two poles apart.

He erred by thinking that he had already built a huge cult following that would not desert him irrespective of whatever he did—good, bad—in reel or real life.

Pankaj Kapoor cannot be dubbed an unsuccessful actor but if one applies the parameters of commercial success then it can be said that he deserved more what actually came his way. An actor par excellence, he proved himself aeons ago with Tapan Sinha’s Ek Doctor ki Maut.

His recent films like Bhavna Talwar’s Dharm, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Halla Bol, Vishal Bharadwaj’s Maqbool and The Blue Umbrella reaffirm that he is an under-rated, under-utilised actor who should not be belittled on the basis of sitcoms like Office Office or Zabaan Sambhalke. He has great comic timing as seen in Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.

His son Shahid Kapoor has given him reasons to cheer and thump his back by achieving a lot so early in his career. Trendy, teenybopper flicks like Dil Maange More, Ishq Vishq made him a cool favourite with the school and college-going crowds.

Rajshri banner family drama, Vivah was a moderate success, which made him a household name.

Like Vivek, he began an affair to remember with another Kapoor girl.

When they broke off, Shahid’s legions of fans and admirers, especially young girls, were relieved that he had left his past behind.

This personal setback, for a change, was not allowed to bear any negative impact on the professional front and he did not go overboard with allegations like how he was jilted or exploited. He maintained a stoic silence by not trading attacks or launching a slanderous blame-game to tarnish the image of his ex-beau.

He was able to channel all that was probably negative into positivity by concentrating more on his work.

This helped him to emerge as a mature actor in Jab We Met and Kaminey though his career graph also has dampeners like Kismat Connection to be ashamed of.

Surpassing all expectations arrived a Greek God who was glorified by various sections of the media. His father had acted in many light-hearted comedies like Khatta Meetha, Kaamchor, Hamari Bahu Alka, Jhoothi. But he did not click as a hero though many blame it on his moustache rather than his acting abilities.

His films did not get massive openings yet he continued to get work. His brother was a more successful personality as a music director and he, too, tasted success as a film director with Khudgarz. Yes, we are talking of the Roshan clan.

Hrithik Roshan—with a sculpted torso and Adonis looks—created box office history not seen since the heady days of Amitabh Bachchan. Rakesh Roshan launched him in Kaho na... Pyaar Hai.

The film ran very successfully and went on to win almost every award. Hrithik Roshan was not ready to be dismissed as a star son who performed only when his father wielded the microphone. There was no dearth of offers after the initial brush with success. He went on to work with reputed directors like Vidhu Chopra in Mission Kashmir and Subhash Ghai in Yaadein.

He became meticulous and choosy with the scripts and cut down on the projects he embarked on in order to give his hundred per cent instead of cashing on the hysterical craze and fizzling out in a few years. It’s been a decade since he hit the marquee, and he has already stabilised his career with clearly set goals.

Jodhaa Akbar and Krish have been other landmark films and his forthcoming venture, Kites, currently doing the festival rounds, is tipped to make him the Brad Pitt of India.

As a top bracket star, having several national and international brands to endorse, with a tremendous fan-following among the youth, he has delivered octane performances as well as maintained a lean, muscular look that suggests he is going to stay at the top for decades to come.

In this very first decade of the career they have washed away the stigma attached to their fathers, and given them reason to celebrate this hard-earned success. Certainly it’s no longer about being successful. It’s more about staying successful and managing to wear the crown of success lightly.