‘Phata Poster Nikhla Hero’: Can Shahid Kapoor do it?

How do you know you’ve arrived in Bollywood? When you defy the wannabe SRK tag and come into your own. When you dance like a dream,so much so that Hrithik Roshan names you in his favourite actors-who-can-dance list. When you run with the horses and the music goes Dhan te nan. When you are in a high profile relationship with a reigning Bollywood diva. When you sit on Karan Johar’s couch with another Bollywood supergirl with whom you are supposed to be cosy with. If you tick all these boxes then you are Shahid Kapoor.

Lest there ever be any doubt he did arrive and how. Not too long ago much before Ranbir Kapoor rained on every other young star’s parade,Shahid was the next-superstar-in-making after solid turns in Jab We Met and Kaminey — which he failed to capitalise on. Other than dropping the towel a la Ranbir,Shahid was following the rulebook and charting his stardom trek. Then came the phase where things started going wrong. A few unwise script choices — starting with Yash Raj Films’ Dil Bole Hadippa and Badmaash Company started his downward spiral which peaked with ‘Mausam’ and ‘Teri Meri Kahaani’. From a success story Shahid Kapoor just went off the radar.

The odds are stacked against him. He hasn’t had a hit since 2009. The star space is crowded with Ranbir-Ranveer-Sushant-Arjun-Imran marching on. If he ever needed a comeback,it’s now. All eyes are on Rajkumar Santoshi’s Phata Poster Nikla Hero releasing today. Shahid will be hoping the film proves to be his Wanted — the film with which Salman Khan came back and hasn’t looked back. Shahid seems to be applying the Salman formula and has gone hardcore commercial with his cinema choices. Post Phata Poster.. he has Wanted director Prabhudeva’s Rambo Rajkumar lined up. It’ll be interesting to see if this strategy works. There’s tremendous buzz that he’s agreed to shave his head for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Hamlet adaptation Hyder. That’s full marks for commitment. Now if only the results follow. The boy has it in him. If he manages to do it then it’ll be a well-deserved comeback. Maybe then we can finally get a challenger to Ranbir. We’ll be watching.

harneet.singh@expressindia.com