It starts with a film that launches a newcomer. The film turns out to be a hit, which in turn makes the debutant actor a star. His payback time starts immediately. Henceforth, he carries the burden of expectations; he is supposed to give a hit in every film. A couple of more hits and the industry brands the actor a star, superstar and so on. Then, he is expected to only deliver hits.
That makes one a very insecure person; all that attention, the media, the fans and such are never happy. The media is unscrupulous. Stardom or downfall, they couldn’t care less. There will always be another star.
There are stars who were made right from their first film, and there are those who could not hold on to it, while there are also those who were lurking on the sides till they finally made it.
These observations are all about a bygone era, which is in the process of ending now. That is to say, it does not seem likely that anymore superstars will be made.
At least, not the way they were made earlier — the lasting kind; the ones who had a fan following in millions and who got fan mails written in blood (Rajesh Khanna did).
Stars of all variety needed assistants to reply to all the fan mail, with a picture enclosed! That era is over. (IANS)
