Two debutants and a surprise package

Everyone was so busy chopping the woods that they forgot to see the forest.
So fast and furious was the competition last week among the debutant and their films, that we forgot to see how blessed we were to have two newcomers make such a large impact on the audience on the same Friday. When was the last time we had a really promising debutant since Ranbir Kapoor six months ago?
Harman Baweja and Imran Khan are potential stars.Radio and television channels want to know which of the two is ���better���. How do you answer that? Suppose Rishi Kapoor and Aamir Khan were to make their debut on the same Friday would we ask the same question? Or would we accept the two actors for what they are?
What makes Harman and Imran so special is not just their camera-friendliness, but also their ability to be two different entities completely disparate in personality and intent.
Harman is the certifiably-filmi hero. He can sing, dance, fight, weep, laugh, love and hate. Imran, on the other hand, is very strong on connectivity. Imran is the archetypal boy-next-door. Something that his uncle Aamir aspired to be when he came into the movies.
Suddenly the superstars who came in at the beginning of this millennium have begun to look jaded. In fact Salman Khan commented on the ghisa-pita generation when Imran came on his game show.
Many actors re-structured the concept of superstardom to suit their limited aptitudes at herogiri. The hip-hop attitude was invented because the neo-stars couldn���t do the intricate dance steps.
Like Hrithik Roshan, Harman can. He glides. He dares to let the emotions come dramatically alive on screen. Herogiri is not just his forte, it���s his karma. Imran on the other hand belongs to a less traditional school of herogiri. He would rather react than act. Rather restrain the drama than let it out.
It���s significant that both the debutants are from within the industry. They know every nook and cranny of the camera. They can easily switch from hero to director any time.
There was another far quieter debut last Friday. Smita Patil and Raj Babbar���s son Prateik made his maiden appearance as Genelia���s eccentric and isolated brother in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. The resemblance to his mythic mom hit us collectively like a mottled meteor. Yes, Smita Patil lives again!
Her son has the gentle but unmistakably tenacious quality that made his mom so special. I can���t get over the fact that Prateik knows his mother only through what he hears about her. It���s a heart-rending situation. And one that���s worthy of a screenplay some day. For now I am just so glad to see Smita live again through her son.