India

STARS

Like Hollywood, Indian cinema recognized the commercial value and appeal of stars early on, even though early debates questioned whether respectable women should appear in films. Early stars often had backgrounds in theater, but the first major female stars of Indian cinema before Devika Rani (1907–1994) (the leading lady at Bombay Talkies and eventual head of the studio) were often Anglo-Indian, including Patience Cooper, Sulochana (Ruby Meyers; 1907–1983), and the stunt queen Fearless Nadia (Mary Evans). The melancholic singer K. L. Saigal was the first great male star of the sound era, to be displaced by the more talented actor Ashok Kumar (1911–2001), whose film career lasted for decades. Two of the greatest directors of 1950s Hindi cinema, Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt, were also stars who conveniently represented opposites poles of light and dark moods. The golden age's female stars, including Nargis (1929–1981), Madhubala (1933–1969), and Waheeda Rehman (b. 1936), often balanced on the tightrope between traditional Indian femininity and Hollywood glamour, while the romantic and often tragic Dilip Kumar emerged in the same period as perhaps Hindi cinema's most enduring leading man. Typically, male stars in India enjoy long careers, whereas many female stars drop out of films when they marry, perhaps to return later to play "mother" roles.

Even the artistically ambitious New Indian Cinema was not immune to a star system, which included actors such as Shabana Azmi (b. 1950), Smita Patil (1955–1986), and Naseeruddin Shah (b. 1950) (all rising to prominence in the films of Shyam Benegal [b. 1934]). But the overwhelming significance of the Indian film star became most apparent in the mid-1970s, when Bachchan's status as an "angry young man" demonstrated the importance that a single charismatic actor could have for an entire industry. Bachchan's massive popularity defined an era and a new kind of hero through a series of blockbuster films. Following Bachchan's decade-long reign, younger male stars, including Shah Rukh Khan (b. 1965), Aamir Khan (b. 1965), and Hritik Roshan (b. 1974), often represent a globalized and commercial youth culture, while recent female stars such as Madhuri Dixit (b. 1967) and Aishwarya Rai (b. 1973) continue to represent the tension between traditional Indian values and feisty, often erotic, independence.

The popularity of film stars has also led to prominent political careers, especially in Tamil Nadu, where the Tamil film superstars Shivaji Ganesan (1927–2001), Jayalalitha, and M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987) (known as MGR) balanced film and political careers for decades, frequently blurring their on-and offscreen roles. In Andhra Pradesh, the Telegu cinema superstar N. T. Rama Rao (NTR; 1923–1996) enjoyed a similar career. Some Hindi film stars, including Bachchan, have also dabbled in politics, often controversially, but with less long-term success than that of their South Indian counterparts.