Dreaming Big

Okay,I just made all of the above up. Given SRKs track record,it is highly unlikely that he will ever step out of the comfort zone of playing SRK. Thats where all the endorsements,the product tie-ins,the merchandise are. Thats where all the money is. So why would he bother?

Well,maybe for a movie anyone,not just the financiers,can be proud of? Superstars are the only film industry denizens who do not have to lurch from one risky proposition to another because their lives depend upon it. Or line up for auditions. Or wait for production houses to bestow tied-up-with-strings largesse upon them. They own their productions. And their time. Theyve acquired their plush island vacation homes,private jet-owning patrons,real-estate investments. How about putting something back in cracklingly new roles?

Will Twenty Twelve banish bloated star vehicles? Do pigs have wings? My super-starry wish list for the new year is mediated by a mix of scarred hindsight from long years of watching rubbish,and an incurable rash of optimism that comes from the few good ones. Look at Tom Cruise,just as an example. Hes Hollywoods equivalent of Shah Rukh Khan. Right on top,well-loved by a huge fan base. Look at what Cruise does in the latest Mission Impossible,the fourth instalment of a staggeringly successful franchise. Hes acting to a template,yes,but hes putting everything he has in it. His facial muscles stretched to tautness,his legs pumping,every inch of his body working. Complacence could have lead Cruise to try cruising on charisma. In a film that lags in the story and thrills department,hes the only one standing out,because he doesnt just want to be pretty.

Go on SRK,you can do it.

Heres more from my list,in no particular order.

The next time Salman bhai makes an outing,could he please leave his turquoise bracelet behind? Look where it got him the last time he did that,in Dabangg. It would be nice to see this Khan,whose staggering appeal cuts through class-and-mass,not sleepwalking. Just once. Theres some sort of actor hidden inside all that ripped,worked-out brawn which substitutes for skills in such lazy trash as Ready. Is the Yashraj team,working with this Khan for the first time,listening?

The last time Aamir did not take himself deathly seriously was in Sarfarosh,and what a terrific entertainer-with-heart that one turned out to be. He shows up in his first scene in the film with his back to us: when did that last happen with a Hindi film star? Will his next cop turn,helmed by Reema Kagti,have the same spirit? If I have to see him sliding down a wall trying oh-so-hard to express grief,like he did in Dhobi Ghat,I will do something violent. Promise.

As for Akshay,I still have hope. His most tolerable performances have come when he is playing sincere,but hes milked that persona dry with the long string of clueless desi boy roles. In last years wannabe sex romp Desi Boyz,he once again showed how much fun he can be when hes sending himself up. Remember him in Khakee? Some of that same jokey awareness of who he is came through in the faux gigolo part in Desi Boyz. Hold up,Akshay,theres still time.

Can a filmmaker venture into the unknown with Dreamboat Hrithik? This hazel-eyed charmer needs a brave story-teller who can push him into a zone thats not his standard lets-make-the-girls-swoon. Yank him out of first-class cabins,and expensive convertibles. For starters,someone just needs to expand on his Luck By Chance part,in which he shows what he is capable of. Will Agneepath surprise us?

And then there is Saif. Hes been busy painting walls,strumming guitars,and gobbling potato chips. In ads. Hes been practising to be a real-life nawaab. Hes the one Khan who has the ability to disappear into a role,even if that means getting down and dirty. But his last couple of films,especially Love Aaj Kal,have been safe and predictable. Will the long-delayed Agent Vinod,rumoured to be out in March,get the man with the acting chops back in our midst?

Stars,can you burn bright?

shubhra.gupta expressindia.com