The setting couldn't be better. A love triangle slated for a Valentine's Day release. The film: Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya (HMBPK). The director: Dharmesh Darshan, who crafted Karisma Kapoor's rise to stardom. The music: the hit duo Nadeem-Shravan. Add Akshay Kumar and Karisma on the marquee. Plus that hint of an off-screen chemistry between Karisma and Abhishek Bachchan. It's the kind of combo that normally has Bollywood abuzz with garam vibes. The Bachchans, though, are a bunch of nerves. Pa Amitabh has "his fingers crossed" while son Abhishek is admittedly a "wreck".

That's not surprising. Despite the Bachchan moniker, Abhishek's 18-month-long career has been blotted by hype, empty theatres and tepid reviews. His releases Refugee, Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya and Dhai Akshar Prem Ke have, to quote a distributor, "seen various degrees of non-success". His last film Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai was a total washout.

His performances were indifferent, his dancing awkward and, worse, he looked flabby. Abhishek's failure could be dubbed the result of bad choices and missed opportunities. Some believe it's more than just happenstance. Apparently A.B. Junior has an attitude too. As one director says, "It's the flip-side of starry genes. His manners are impeccable but a know-it-all arrogance creeps through."

FAILURE CHART

BAS ITNA SA KHWAB HAI Investment: Rs 8 crore All-India Business: Rs 2 crore Supporting Cast: Rani Mukherjee, Sushmita Sen and Jackie Shroff Reason for failure: Too many sub-plots bungled the film

DHAI AKSHAR PREM KE Investment: Rs 10 crore All-India Business: Rs 5.5 crore Supporting Cast: Aishwarya Rai Reason for failure: The film regurgitated all the feel-good family sagas from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge onwards

REFUGEE Investment: Rs 12 crore All-India business: Rs 13.5 crore Supporting Cast: Karreina Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Sunil Shetty Reason for failure: J. P. Dutta's Indo-Pak love story meandered too much

COMING SOON

HAAN MAINE BHI PYAAR KIYA Investment: Rs 13 crore Supporting Cast: Karisma Kapoor and Akshay Kumar What to look forward to: Abhishek acting with girlfriend Karisma, Darshan's flair, Nadeem-Shravan's music

Perhaps, says a leading director, "Like other star kids, he thinks he knows all about filmmaking. But he doesn't know and doesn't listen." Rohan Sippy, who has known Abhishek since their school days in Aiglon College, Switzerland, and is directing him in Kuch Na Kaho, however, disagrees: "He has an irreverent sense of humour and laughs at himself too. Perhaps that is translated as being rude but he is not at all a difficult actor." Indeed, Farah Khan, who is negotiating with him to play Shah Rukh Khan's brother in her debut film, believes that "he is definitely one of the best actors among the younger lot"; and Ram Gopal Varma, who wanted him for Company calls him "intelligent and talented".

Be that as it may, the box office has not endorsed the second Bachchan. Indeed, a non-Bachchan would by now have been consigned to a position behind the camera, opted for negative roles or perhaps the tube. Not Abhishek. He continues to face the camera. "I know the audience has been extra-patient with me because of my parents," he says, "but it's time for me to show that I deserve their love." What's more, producers continue to back him.

Perhaps it's the Bachchan magic, the triumph of hope or the fact that even Big B took over seven films to notch his first hit. Ergo Junior B still has producers signing cheques of between Rs 75 lakh and Rs 1 crore per essay-the same as hunk Fardeen Khan, less than Bobby Deol, more than Aftab Shivdasani. Coming up soon are Sooraj Barjatya's Main Prem Diwani Hoon, J.P. Dutta's multi-starrer L.O.C., and Boney Kapoor's Dilchor opposite Karreina Kapoor. Add four more films with directors like Mahesh Manjrekar and Madhur Bhandarkar. Companies like Maruti and now Pepsi also want him to endorse their products.

You could even say Abhishek is Bollywood's Teflon man. But Mr Teflon now needs success to stick at the box office. His current status is so precarious that Shararat, which stars him with new girl Hrishita Bhatt and was completed seven months ago, is still lying in the cans. The flops forced Abhishek to reconsider his strategy: "Earlier, I just informed my parents that I was doing a certain project but now I ask for their opinion."

Complacency has also contributed to Abhishek's labouring career graph. Unlike Hrithik Roshan, who sweated his way to stardom, Abhishek, who was offered stardom on a platter, was less hungry. "It's the Indian second generation syndrome," says an industry source. But failure has been a thorough teacher. "Pa told me," Abhishek says, "to 'remember before giving each shot that once a shot is okayed, it goes down in history and there is nothing you can do to fix it'. Perhaps I didn't remember that each time."

To say he needs a hit badly would be a gross understatement. Bollywood respects legends but it is performance that rules. Tinsel town's history is littered with star sons who emerged with a bang and disappeared without a whimper: jubilee star Rajendra Kumar's son Gaurav, Manoj Kumar's son Kunal Goswami, Raj Kapoor's son Rajiv and Shashi Kapoor's sons Kunal and Karan.

It's this feeling that is now haunting Abhishek. He is hoping hmbpk will break the voodoo. Promos suggest that perhaps Abhishek has finally found a director who knows how to dress him with help from designer Manish Malhotra. The unit also worked three months on Abhishek's dubbing so that his voice wouldn't echo his father's legendary baritone.

Darshan, who signed on Abhishek after he already had three flops because he wanted a "man among the boys", can't stop raving about his performance. "It's a path-breaking role because a man takes responsibility for his actions in a relationship. He is the ideal new man. And Abhishek has matched his contemporaries without body building." Darshan also took great pains to ensure Abhishek did not "mimic Amitabh Bachchan".

While Abhishek is hoping that Darshan's hmbpk would do for him what Raja Hindustani did for Karisma, the fact is Darshan hasn't always delivered. He didn't quite send Shilpa Shetty in Dhadkan or Twinkle Khanna in Mela into orbit. But this time round the Bachchans and their supporters are hoping Darshan will wave his wand once again. hmbpk is, as Trade Guide's Taran Adarsh says, his "make or break chance".

A week before the release, Abhishek is wrestling with the demons. There are nights when he has held his head in his hands and wondered, "What have I done that is so wrong?" But he smiles through it. "You just have to keep acting. I have accepted that it will happen when it is destined to." Destiny will unveil itself in a week.

-with bureau reports