Raj Babbar

When he took on the cameo in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, I was pleasantly surprised. Usually star bachchas want to arrive on the big screen with full fanfare, band baaja, etc., and here was Prateik Babbar, the son of India’s finest actors Raj Babbar and the late Smita Patil, who debuted in a minor, yet distinct role.

Pratiek did his part pretty well as Genelia’s quirky brother. And, I thought, this guy cares more for the acting part of it, than the ’star’ part of it, especially because another youngster Imraan Khan was also debuting and he was the focus of the movie.

But now I hear that Prateik ditched Chandraprakash Dwivedi after talking to him about a role in a period flick. Instead, his next movie will now be with big banner Sanjay Leela Bhansali in My Friend Pinto. I’m forced to do a rethink on Prateik. Maybe he’s not really like his mom after all, who had her share of big banners, too, of course, but never shied away from a small-budget or hatke movie, if the role was meaty enough.

Well, there can only be on Smita Patil, so I guess it’s too much to expect her son to be like her. But given that Mr Dwivedi knows his history well, Jr Babbar might have passed up a chance to do something different and establish himself as a genuine actor rather than a common place tinsel star with mass appeal and no substance. I’m disappointed because with such an impressive film family pedigree, one would have expected better from him.