Kunal Khemu is the star in the film Superstar that is about an aspiring actor who wants to make it big in Bollywood. Not only a fine actor, he can actually carry a film on his shoulders. Superstar has the backdrop of Bollywood to showcase a story of look-alikes who by chance switch their fortunes in an industry where there is only one God: Money.
Superstar, the film has him in a double role where one Kunal is the self-indulgent son of a producer (Darshan Jariwala) who pumps in all the money he has to create a superstar out of his son.
The other Kunal is a wannabe actor, who drives his rickety motorbike from Borivili (a distant suburb in Mumbai) to Film City in search of a great role which will make him a mix of Amitabh, Shah Rukh and Salman. We have a doting mother (Reema Lagoo), an anxious father (Sharat Saxena) and a cute girlfriend (Tulip Joshi).
The wild son seems to be a non-performing actor who jives his way through his sad little life, while his look-alike the middle class struggler doubles in for all the difficult parts. However, this junior artist soon finds his role expanding and his personal life disappearing after a contract he signs with the producer.
Now, one of the two Kunals is knocked off in an accident. The other one steps into the role of the departed Kunal. There is no mystery of any sort, instead we have a lot of melodrama. In the end our hero has an emotional speech where he confesses and is pardoned.
Kunal doesn’t reveal his identify to his parents and waits to come clean only in the climax. But we have an investigating journalist who is hell bent on learning the true identity of the Kunal clone. However when he actually finds out about it, he just discards the juicy gossip. Ethics it could be or even his inner voice.
The temptation of becoming a superstar weans him away from his family, his loved ones, leaving him lonely and locked up in a castle. He is in a world of artificiality all around except for the material things around him are expensive.
Yes, this wannabe actor has a recipe of blending portions of Bachchan and Khans to create his own Superstar brew.
Kunal plays a double role with fine distinction and self-discipline in this film which has a somewhat confused script and loose editing. He touches your heart in distinctive personalities of a middle class boy with a wish for stardom in his eyes, as well as the other poor little rich boy who celebrates his birthday alone.
Darshan Zariwala as the producer father does his bit of hysterical hamming that a typical Bollywood villain behaves like. Aman Verma is not as convincing as a sting operation journalist. Director Rohit Jugraj handles the emotional sequences with somewhat great restraint.
CAST of Superstar:
Kunal Mehra – Kunal Khemu
Mausam – Tulip Joshi
Barkha – Aushima Sawhney
Kunal’s father – Sharat Saxena
Kunal’s Mother – Reema Lagoo
Saxena – Darshan Jariwala
Kusum Saxena – Kishori Shahane
Mishra – Vrajesh Hirjee
Prashant – Zafar Karachiwala
Sharmaji – Anjaan Srivastav
Danny – Rushad Rana
Tiffin – Kunal Kumar
Jenny – Deepika Sharma
Khosla aka KK – Deep Dudani
Journalist – Aman Verma
Sanjay Dutt – special appearance
CREDITS of Superstar:
Director- Rohit Jugraj
Written by – Rohit Jugraj, Raahul Singh, Sudip Sharma
Music – Shamir Tandon, Abhijit Vaghani
Lyrics – Sabeer Ahmad, Shabbir Ahmed
Cinematography – Mahendra Shetty
Editing – Sandeep Francis
Screenplay – Rahul Singh, Sudip Sharma
Story – Writers – Rohit Jugraj, Rahul Singh, Sudip Sharma
Art Direction – Manohar Patil
Superstar, movie review