Ten Bollywood star kids who were launched together

New Delhi: The debate around nepotism in Bollywood grows stronger with the release of Karan Johar’s Dhadak this week. While lead female actor Jahnvi Kapoor is late star Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor’s daughter, male lead Ishaan Khatter who was also seen in Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Clouds earlier this year, is actor Shahid Kapoor’s brother. Over the years, Bollywood has not just provided launch pads to individual star kids but often adopted the even more viable option of launching two together as a couple. A look at ten such pairs.

1. Harshvardhan Kapoor-Saiyami Kher: Anil Kapoor’s son made his debut with Kher, granddaughter of yesteryear actress Usha Kiran and niece of actor Tanvi Azmi in director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s epic romantic fantasy Mirzya (2016). It made ₹ 7 crore at the box office.

2. Sooraj Pancholi-Athiya Shetty: Romantic action film Hero (2015), a remake of the Subhash Ghai directed 1984 film of the same name, launched star kids Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi and Athiya Shetty, daughter of actor Sunil Shetty. The Nikhil Advani directed film made ₹ 31 crore at the box office.

3. Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt: Karan Johar’s romantic comedy drama Student of the Year (2012) saw the children of filmmakers David Dhawan and Mahesh Bhatt come together. The film that also launched model Sidharth Malhotra made ₹ 62 crore in box office collections.

4. Ranbir Kapoor-Sonam Kapoor: The former is the son of actors Rishi and Neetu Kapoor while the latter is actor Anil Kapoor’s daughter. The two were launched in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s romantic film Saawariya (2007) that earned ₹ 20 crore in box office collections.

5. Abhishek Bachchan-Kareena Kapoor: The son of actors Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan and the younger sister of actor Karisma Kapoor made their debut in director JP Dutta’s romantic period film Refugee (2000). It made ₹ 17 crore at the box office.

6. Uday Chopra-Shamita Shetty: Filmmaker Yash Chopra’s son and actress Shilpa Shetty’s sister were launched in musical romantic drama Mohabbatein (2000) directed by the former’s brother Aditya Chopra. It made ₹ 41 crore at the box office.

7. Bobby Deol-Twinkle Khanna: Dharmendra’s younger son made his debut with actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia’s daughter. The film, Barsaat (1995) directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, made ₹ 19 crore at the box office.

8. Ajay Devgn-Madhoo: Devgn is action director Veeru Devgn’s son while Madhoo is actress Hema Malini’s niece. The two debuted in director Kuku Kohli’s Phool Aur Kaante (1991) that earned ₹ 6.5 crore in box office collections.

9. Kajol-Kamal Sadanah: The former is the daughter of actress Tanuja and filmmaker Shomu Mukherjee while the latter is the son of producer Brij Sadanah. The two made their debut in director Rahul Rawail’s Bekhudi that released in 1992.

10. Sunny Deol-Amrita Singh: Deol is actor Dharmendra’s son while Singh is related to legendary actress Begum Para. The two were launched in blockbuster romantic film Betaab (1983) that made ₹ 6 crore at the box office.

All figures have been sourced from movie website Box Office India and news reports.