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By Anupama Chopra

Aftab Shivdasani is a flop hero. Last October, his high-octane Ram Gopal Varma launch, Mast, died an agonisingly quick death at the box office. Perhaps someday he'll ponder his status and get depressed. Right now he simply doesn't have the time.

Shivdasani has just returned from a three-day shopping spree in London. Where he and director Rajiv Rai picked up the happening brand name clothes -- Armani, Versace, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, D&G -- for Rai's new film Pyar, Ishq Aur Mohabbat in which Shivdasani plays the proverbial designer-clad NRI boy. He's currently shooting from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for director Vikram Bhatt's steamy thriller Kasoor. In a few days, he leaves for America to sing songs with dream girl debutante Esha Deol for producer Boney Kapoor. And oh, if you're thinking of casting the Mast man in your next film, you'll probably get him circa August 2001. "Touch wood," he says, breaking into a dimpled smile, "I don't have dates till then."

Newcomers are hot property in Bollywood. Producers who broke into hives at the thought of fresh faces now can't seem to do without them. Distributors who couldn't see beyond the Khans are saying sagely that it's not the star but the story that clicks. The buzz words are: youth, packaging, presentation, marketing. Gene pools are being furiously tapped -- nephews and nieces with famous last names are being launched. But even outsiders with charisma sans connections are finding backers. Mega-producer Vashu Baghnani, who is doing two films with new faces, estimates that approximately Rs 250 crore is riding on the wannabes. Bollywood is desperately seeking the next Hrithik Roshan.

So Shivdasani, despite the debut debacle, has an armload of offers. The 22-year-old sat at home for four months after Mast but his patience paid off. Two A-list producers, Ramesh Taurani and Boney Kapoor, signed him and the fence-sitting hordes followed. So Shivdasani is playing a husband who may or may not have killed his wife in Kasoor, but is also doing "an out-and-out comedy" for Varma's Shool prot g , E. Niwas. He charges between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore. With six films on the floors and another six in the pipeline, Shivdasani is refusing projects.

He isn't the only one. The hottest debutants of the year are Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor. Both film family scions, practically Bollywood royalty, have been so hyped by the media that they are stars even before their first release, J.P. Dutta's Refugee. But they are more than just media celebrities. Bachchan, with a voice and demeanour eerily reminiscent of his superstar father, had the producers lining up even when Refugee was under production. Abhishek is so busy that his associate, Sheetal Jain, brushes off requests for interviews with a snooty but firm: "He just doesn't have time. When it's convenient, our pro will call you." Abhishek's second film, Vashu Baghnani's Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya, is ready for release and with five films lined up, he is considered the next big thing. Dutta attests to his talent: "He's a natural with his own distinctive style." And as Taurani puts it: "Isko to chalna hi hai (He has to click)."

Kareena has been dancing in front of the mirror since she was six. Acting was always her aim but she thought she'd give education a shot. She was enrolled at Harvard Law School when Bollywood beckoned. Mama Babita is now the chief architect of Kareena's gravity-defying trajectory. Babita yanked Kareena out of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (KNPH) and opted instead for the more sombre Refugee. "This role was a big challenge," says Kareena, "but Refugee will speak for me. I will be known not as a star but as an actress."

She is already being spoken of as a "legend". No one outside the Refugee unit has seen a frame of the film but Kareena has signed enough projects to make elder sis Karisma envious. She's got Subhash Ghai's Yaadein, Santosh Sivan's Ashoka, Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi, Kabhi Gham and Abbas-Mustan's Ajnabi. She's had no formal acting training and would love to take dancing classes -- "I have two left feet" -- but has no time till May 2001. This, when she's refusing about five films a day.
Continued in the next page

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