The death of Hrithik Roshan’s character, Rohit, just before the interval in ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’, which hit the theaters 25 years ago, came as a shock to the audience. If you think about it, killing the hero in the very first film could have been quite a risky affair.
However, director Rakesh Roshan had planned a big surprise for the audience in the film and in the second half, Hrithik was again seen in the role of his look-alike. ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ became a hit and Hrithik became a superstar. But this is not just Hrithik’s story, rather Bollywood enjoys showing actors dying onscreen in their debut films. And the amazing thing is that the actors who die in their debut film become very popular later on.
Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla, the top actress of her time, debuted together in lead roles. Their first film ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ was released in 1988. This film was a pure love story and both the characters die at the end of the story. Aamir and Juhi died onscreen in the film, but in real life both became favorites of the public and later became big stars.
Deepika Padukone
Hrithik’s ‘Fighter’ co-star Deepika Padukone was also seen dying onscreen in her very first film. Deepika played a double role in ‘Om Shanti Om’. His first character Shantipriya dies in the story. In exactly the same ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ style, in the next part of the film, she is seen in the role of Shantipriya’s look-alike Sandy.
john abraham
Even before ‘Dhoom’ captured the hearts of the public, John Abraham had started making his place among the public. It started with his first film ‘Jism’ (2003). His character dies at the end of this story. Passionate love story and songs with Bipasha made John popular among the public from the very first film.
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka made her debut with Sunny Deol’s film ‘The Hero’. Do you remember Priyanka’s character in this film which was very popular on TV? Priyanka’s character, who is supporting Sunny in the mission to save the country, dies at the end of the film. Priyanka died onscreen in her debut film, but after this her career life became very long and now she has made a name in Hollywood also.
Special Mention: Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra
The arc of Arjun and Parineeti’s characters in ‘Ishaqzaade’ (2012) was almost the same as that of Aamir-Juhi in ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’. The staunch enmity of both their families becomes the reason for their love story not being completed. However, there were many more layers in the characters of both the lead actors in ‘Ishaqzaade’.
Along with Arjun, this was also Parineeti’s debut film as a lead. However, ‘Ladies vs Ricky Bahl’ starring Parineeti in an important role was released earlier. Both the actors got their dream debut with ‘Ishaqzaade’. But later their film choice was not very good, which harmed the career of both of them.
What is the reason for onscreen death in debut film?
The death of a character on the big screen gives a lot of sympathy to the actor. ‘Sholay’ is a wonderful example in this matter. Dharmendra used to be a bigger star than Amitabh Bachchan at that time. But after seeing Amitabh’s onscreen death in ‘Sholay’, the public fell in love with him. Whereas, initially when the film was getting a lukewarm response, plans were made to remove the death scene of Jai (Amitabh) from the film and show him alive.
Due to the death of the character, the public feels a sympathetic connection to the actor. Getting an actor’s connection with the public in his debut film can do wonders for his career. All the actors mentioned above were in romantic roles in their debut films. In such a situation, the combination of love and sympathy from the audience becomes a formula that can bring instant popularity to the actor. Perhaps that is why Bollywood films have done this a lot with new actors. Now it remains to be seen on which actor this formula will be tried next time.
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