Would you believe that Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan is making his debut in the movies this week? This Friday, Junaid’s debut feature film titled Maharaj is releasing on Netflix and until now, we haven’t even seen the trailer of the film. Even more surprising is the fact that no one, not Junaid or his famous father, has spoken anything about the film. All we have seen so far is one poster of the film where Junaid is sharing space with Jaideep Ahlawat. In a world where we get to see pre-teasers of teasers announcing the title of a song, this is, simply put, a strange move.
Unlike other star kids, Junaid hasn’t been photographed much by the paparazzi in Mumbai. From whatever few pictures and videos we have seen of him, he comes across as the guy who is accidentally caught by paparazzi, or is clicked when he is accompanying his father. Junaid hasn’t even given any interviews as of now and we don’t see him endorsing any brands, and all of this seems to be a conscious move to separate him from the herd of nepo-kids who follow a prescribed path when making their debut in the movies. So for a regular audience member, all they know about the man is that he is the son of Aamir Khan and his first wife Reena Dutta. But what made Netflix and YRF, who are producing Maharaj, decide that informing absolutely no one about the release of their upcoming film was a good idea? Or is this some some great new promotional idea that Aamir has come up with?
Aamir Khan with his son Junaid Khan (right) and Azad (left). (Photo: Varinder Chawla)
After the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020, social media started looking at nepo-kids with a harsher eye. Just recently, Sharmin Segal’s work in Heeramandi was criticised to a level that had never been seen before. The audience questioned her acting skills, and more so, they questioned her merit to grab a leading role in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali project. Before Heeramandi dropped, the conversation was just about Bhansali’s creations but soon after the show’s release, the chatter shifted to Sharmin being Bhansali’s niece, and her mediocre performance in the show.
Last year, when Netflix launched three star kids with Zoya Akhtar’s Archies after extensive promotion, they got considerable heat from the audience. It was almost like a big chunk of the audience was ready to pounce on Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor and Suhana Khan even before watching the film. The talking points in promotions were about the “boot camp” that the actors went through and the rigorous auditioning that got them the three lead roles. At one point, they even blamed the media for focusing too much on the three star kids and not giving enough attention to the other four actors who were being “robbed” of their moment. But after the release, the only actor who walked away with high praise was Vedang Raina.
Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies starred seven newcomers but the three lead parts – Archie, Betty and Veronica – were played by Agastya, Khushi and Suhana.
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Given how these two different approaches have failed in generating any kind of goodwill for the actors, Maharaj could be seen as an experiment. Aamir Khan has always been at the helm of experimentation when it comes to promotions and if there was anyone who could come up with a better plan to take the stench off of being a nepo-baby, he could be the changemaker. Aamir has tried new promotional gimmicks in the past with Ghajini, 3 Idiots and PK and while they usually land in the right place, the same couldn’t be said for his strategy for Laal Singh Chadha. In Junaid’s case, one could wonder if this was their way of managing people’s expectations because promoting him as a starkid wouldn’t be the right move in this climate. The proof is always in the pudding and this could give Junaid a chance to make an impression with his performance before other factors cloud people’s judgement. Anyway, Maharaj isn’t some make-or-break film for Juanid. He is already working on two other films – a film with Sai Pallavi and another one with Khushi Kapoor.
Junaid comes from a family that has a long legacy in the movies. His father Aamir has been a superstar for over 30 years but his family has had a stronghold in Hindi cinema since the 1950s. Nasir Hussain, the older brother of Aamir’s father Tahir Hussain, is know for producing and directing films like Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Teesri Manzil, Yaadon Ki Baaraat, among many others. Aamir’s father Tahir was also a movie producer. His cousin Mansoor Khan directed films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. And for a short while, Aamir’s brother Faisal also tried his luck in the movies and he was perhaps the only member of this family who didn’t get much success. Aamir’s nephew, Imran Khan, was also launched in the movies by Aamir in 2008 in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. If this was another era, Junaid’s debut would have been a talk of the town but now his legacy is almost like a double-edged sword.
Imran Khan made his debut in 2008 with Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, which was produced by Aamir Khan.
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Not many have managed to win the nepo-baby lottery since 2020. Babil Khan managed to come out of it unscathed and while you might trick yourself into thinking that it’s all about someone’s acting talent, but there’s more to it. Irrfan’s untimely passing in 2020 left his fans emotional and the love they had for him was passed on to his son in 2022 when he made his debut with Netflix’s Qala. Babil too had landed The Railway Men and Friday Night Plan way before Qala’s release. Imran Khan, who made his debut before Kangana Ranaut introduced the word ‘nepotism’ in pop culture, has managed to remain unscathed as well. Otherwise, how can one explain the ‘Laut Aao Imran’ phenomenon at a time when Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and many other insiders who are now stars, are still answering questions about nepotism.
Junaid’s film Maharaj also stars Jaideep Ahlawat, and is directed by Siddharth P Malhotra; Aamir is not one of the producers of the film. By the way, Junaid’s film is clashing against a Tamil film with a similar title, Maharaja, which stars Vijay Sethupathi. If this new strategy works out for Junaid, this will be a start of a new era in terms of how star kids are launched.
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