Why child actors find it tough to sustain as adults in Bollywood

The Hindi film industry is full of examples of talented child actors, who win accolades for their performances and sometimes even overshadow the film’s stars, but later find it tough to make a career as an adult.Barring a few notable exceptions – Sridevi, Urmila Matondkar, Avika Gor, Hiba Nawab and Kunal Kemmu to name a few – most either leave the industry or are relegated to bit parts. Former child stars tell us why.

Kunal Kemmu, once one of the most successful child actors, says, “I feel every child has an innocent face and that’s how it starts. What stands true for child actors is that the audience constantly sees you like that. And like they say, apne bachche kabhi bade nahin hote. They develop a relationship with that image. So sometimes it gets tough to get away from that.”

Omkar Kapoor, who found fame as a child star in the 90s, says that that fame did not help his later career. “When I was struggling to become an actor once again after my childhood acting career, people told me that child artistes fade away after a certain time. When I got back into acting once again, I had to start from scratch again,” he says.

The transition is relatively easier for the girls, largely due to the availability of lead roles for young actresses in both films and on TV. Both Hansika Motwani and Urmila Matondkar made their debut as a lead actress at 15. Both had been successful child stars barely 3-4 years before their debuts.

Many take the plunge early into lead roles to capitalize on the existing popularity. “Being seen around too much as a child artiste could go against my aspirations to become a heroine. I don't want to be over-exposed,” Hansika Motwani had said in an interview as a 12-year-old. She made her debut as a leading lady three years later.

Avika Gor took a hiatus from acting for over a year when she quit her TV show and did not sign any new films. “I took the break to understand what I want to do in life. I have been acting since I was eight and have played various roles. Usually, kids think about careers when they are 12 or older, but my career was already set as an actor. I needed time to gather myself and understand if this is what I want to do or if there was something else out there that I want to try,” she says.

There are many others who have left the field simply because they didn’t enjoy it anymore. Jhanak Shukla found fame as Preity Zinta’s younger sister in Kal Ho Naa Ho before playing the lead in the sitcom Karishma Ka Karishma. But she only did one TV episode after the age of 10. “I was in the sixth standard and I wanted to study so I just stopped taking any more assignments. I did not want to pursue acting as a career. I got fed up actually,” she said in an interview in 2014.

But despite the trials and tribulations of handling fame at that early an age, child actors say they wouldn’t trade it for a normal childhood. Sana Saeed, who played the young Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, sums it up, “I don’t think I would have had my career in any way other than the way it started. It’s been 20 years now and I still have a recall value. I know I am going down in history with that film.”