Everybody loves a multi-starrer in Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan will be seen with Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani and Vivaan Shah in Happy New Year. Similarly, Aamir Khan will be sharing screen space with Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjay Dutt in PK.

Look back at the ’70s or the ’80s, and you’ll notice that a fair number of hit films were multi-starrers. Movies like Kabhie Kabhie (1976; Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor), Trishul (1978; Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar), even the cult film Sholay (1975; Bachchan, Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar) featured multiple stars. It was perhaps in the mid-’90s, with the growing stature of the Khans, that one-hero films came to rule the box office.

Shah-Rukh-Khan-Abhishek-Bachchan-Deepika-Padukone-Sonu-Sood-and-Boman-Irani-in-a-still-from-Happy-New-Year

Now, however, we seem to be witnessing a return to multi-starrers.

Shah Rukh Khan will be seen with Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani and Vivaan Shah in Happy New Year. Director Farah Khan says she “didn’t have to do any convincing” with SRK. “He was, in fact, excited to know who else will be in the film. He’s enjoyed working and travelling with them, and doing promotions together,” Farah adds.



He’s not the only one. Aamir Khan’s next, P.K., is with Sanjay Dutt, Sushant Singh Rajput, and Boman Irani. Similarly, Ajay Devgn will share credits with Kunaal Roy Kapur and Sonu Sood in Action Jackson. Salman Khan’s next, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, will also feature actors like Neil Nitin Mukesh and Armaan Kohli. Similarly, in his next, Brothers, Akshay Kumar will be seen alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Jackie Shroff. Akshay says, “One day, we can look back and say we were able to work with and give opportunities to a lot of people.”

Trade expert Amod Mehra feels that most actors don’t have issues with sharing screen space: “More than ego, such decisions are driven by the script. That’s why we’ve had films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and 3 Idiots (2009). If a script requires multiple actors, they will be cast. It’s a creative call.”