Former Bollywood child artists who went off track

Last month Shweta Basu Prasad was apparently caught by the Hyderabad police as part of a prostitution racket The 23yearold actress has apparently told the police that she made some wrong choices due to which she ran out of money and was forced her into prostitution This news has shocked many in the industryAlso readBollywood actress caught in prostitution racketActors Shabana Azmi Shweta Basu Prasad and Makrand Deshpande at a promotional event for their film Makdee back in 2002Sanjay Routray one of the producers of the film recalls meeting her recently at a suburban mall ldquoHer mother told me that she is getting good money for her films and Shweta had told me that she was going to approach leading production houses for her Hindi film debut as a lead actress I am saddened by the incidentrdquo he saysShweta shot to fame in 2002 when she won a National Award for her role in Makdee After this she starred in TV serials and a few Bollywood films before acting in Telugu films This incident then brings to light that child artistes who attract fame and money early on in life are not always able to follow it up with the same measure of success once they grow up Shailesh Kapoor CEO Ormax Media says that the success ratio of child actors growing up to play lead roles is as low as 2 to 5 percent ldquoThere is no superstar who started out as a child artist Urmila Matondkar Aftab Shivdasani and Hansika Motwani are a few names who managed to get work as grown ups The physical demands from a child artiste and a grownup actor are very different The former requires one to be cute while the latter requires good looks style and personality This explains the low success raterdquo he saysUrmila however feels that it has more to do with todayrsquos youngsters wanting to make a quick buck ldquoIt is heartbreaking to hear about this but it is also about your upbringing and the lure of glamour and a posh lifestyle that pushes one to such an extentrdquo she says adding that while many get carried away by the fame she is among the few child artistes who completed her educationhitlist takes a look at other names who havenrsquot enjoyed success the way they did as kidsShafiq SyedLowdown He played Chaipau in Salaam Bombay and won a National Award for it Uday Shankar Pani who has worked on the film says that after becoming a household name Shafiq went back to the footpathMira Nair centre with Hansa Vithal played Manju in Salaam Bombay and Shafiq Syed played ChaipauldquoAfter growing up he worked as a junior artiste mdash a boom operator He is now a rickshaw driver in Bangalore though he called me recently to tell me that he has film offers and is considering taking them up His dream of working in the film industry has not endedrdquo says PaniAzharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina AliLowdown Starring in Slumdog Millionaire they were Hollywood director Danny Boylersquos discoveries and although they have moved from the slums of Bandra to one room kitchen flats in Bandra and Santacruz both have no film assignmentsRubina AliAzhar who is 15 years old now wants to pursue acting and claims that he has been getting offers but nothing seems to have materialised except for a small cameo in Kal Kisne Dekha HaiThere were also reports about the kids starring in Anthony Hopkinsrsquos film Lord Owenrsquos Lady but there seems to be no development on that frontJugal HansrajLowdown He was discovered by Shekhar Kapoor who cast him in his 1983 film Masoom He went on to play roles in Karma and Sultanat But his first film as a grown up Aa Gale Lag Jaa where he was cast opposite Urmila Matondkar didnrsquot do well Then he starred in Mahesh Bhattrsquos Papa Kehte Hain but it didnrsquot help Jugalrsquos career After this he got a big opportunity with Aditya Choprarsquos Mohabbatein where he played one of the main leadsPost that he played cameos or character roles in some films and took to direction with the animation film Roadside Romeo and Pyaar Impossible which failed to impress audiences He is said to be still keen on directing filmsBaby GudduLowdown Her real name is Shahinda Baig and she became a popular name in the rsquo80sBaby GudduShe then played prominent roles in films like Samunder Akhir Kyon her last film as a child artiste was Ghar Parivar Today she works with Emirate Airlines in DubaiMaster AlankarLowdown A child artiste of the rsquo70s he starred in yesteryear films such as Dream Girl Don Sholay and Zameer After he grew up he bagged offers for only side roles which is said to have disappointed him He has apparently moved to the US where he runs an IT businessJunior MehmoodLowdown One of the busiest child stars of his times and probably among the highest paid too Junior Mehmood seen in films like Kati Patang and Caravan failed to impress the audiences in his grown up avatarJunior MehmoodldquoNot everyone can become Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan I am quite happy in my space today I am producing and directing Marathi filmsrdquo he says He is presently seen in the serial Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha where he plays a househelpMaster RajuLowdown He starred in the film Parichay and shared screen space with the Big B in Abhimaan today hersquos doing cameos in films and TV showsMaster RajuHe started his career at the age of 5 and won a National Award for Chitchor As an adult he got noticed in the show Chunauti but he didnrsquot get lead roles Today he is seen in TV shows Adalat and CID plus he has acted in films such as Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain and Black Friday He also did the voiceover for Suraj Sharma in the Hindi version of Life of PiParzan DasturLowdown Remember the young Sardar boy in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai who kept counting stars all night and made the dialogue lsquoTussi Naa Jaorsquo very popular Parzan went on to star in Parzania Sikander and Break Ke Baad Also known for as the boy from the Dhara oil ad he is said to have taken a break from acting and is currently concentrating on his studiesAvinash MukherjeeLowdown He became popular as the young Jagya in Ballika Vadhu He returned to TV with SanskaarmdashDharohar Apnon Ki after a gap but that didnrsquot help him win over audiencesAvinash MukherjeeHe too is apparently concentrating on his studies right now though it is being said that he wishes to pursue his Bollywood dream in some years