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2018 witnessed quite a few notable debut performances, but Sara Ali Khan is likely to be the one to reckon with, experts said ahead of her maiden release Kedarnath on December 7.
Abhishek Kapoor’s Kedarnath, based on the 2013 North India floods, also stars Sushant Singh Rajput and is made on a budget of around Rs 35 crore. The film is expected to at least enter the Rs 100 crore club during its lifetime run. “The Rs 100 crore club tag would be a good one to carry for a debut,” said film trade analyst Atul Mohan.
According to Mohan, Sara has the chance of hitting the jackpot in her debut year because she has two releases in the same month. “While Kedarnath hasn’t seen much hype around, Sara has definitely created a lot of buzz. Her strategic and timely appearance on Karan Johar’s talk show has helped. Add to that Sushant’s high success rate and we are sure that content and word-of-mouth will help Sara’s film,” said Mohan.
In the worst-case scenario that Kedarnath fails to find a wide audience, there is always Rohit Shetty’s Simmba waiting to release later this month. For Simmba again, factors like Rohit Shetty and Ranveer Singh make for a tried-and-tested formula for success.
However, it is only box office numbers that’d give Sara a happy report card.
Meanwhile, the other actors who made their debut this year were Shahid Kapoor’s half-brother Ishaan Khatter and Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor.
Ishaan and Janhvi might have seen box office success with Dhadak, that was made on a budget of close to Rs 40 crore and minted Rs 75 crore, but their individual talent might not be tapped completely yet. “Both Ishaan and Janhvi have done well as a pair but the overall script and strong production also worked in their favour. We need to see them in other films to see how they perform individually,” added Mohan.
Kapoor will next be seen in Karan Johar’s Takht, while Khatter has not announced any new project. According to experts, the starlets generally have a two-year time to make use of the edge they have over other new-comers, after which it is sheer talent that keeps them afloat in Bollywood.
Alongside starlets debuted Mouni Roy, who comes from television, and Salman Khan’s brother-in-law Aayush Sharma, who made his debut with Loveyatri. While Loveyatri couldn’t leave a mark at the box office, Gold made business worth Rs 107.37 crore. Unfortunately for Mouni, the film wasn’t the kind that highlighted the actress. “It was an Akshay Kumar film and people wouldn’t remember it for Mouni. She has to work hard to get rid of the Bengali woman image she had in the film and be very cautious of not getting typecast. She has to bag a role that will have the heroine in the central character,” said a Bollywood expert.
Sara surely hopes that her debut movie fares better than that of her father Saif Ali Khan. He made his debut with Yash Chopra's Parampara in 1993, but it fell flat at the box office. The following year, Khan saw success with Yeh Dillagi and Mein Khiladi Tu Anari, both with Akshay Kumar in the lead. Khan came to the limelight only in the late 90s and early 2000s with films like Hum Saath Saath Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho and Dil Chahta Hai.
Her mother Amrita Singh, on the other hand, had a memorable debut with Betaab in 1983 opposite Sunny Deol. Her next two movies, Sunny and Mard, were also big hits.
Will Kedarnath give Sara a similar start?
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