What Makes Sara Ali Khan More Popular Than Her Contemporaries?

 The first  and  only time I met  Sara Ali Khan was at the Screen awards many years ago. It  was the year Sanjay Bhansali’s Black swept the awards .I  was sitting with the director in a front  row when a girl  11-12 years  of  age came and did a neat Adaab in front of the Black director.

“That’s  Amrita and Saif’s daughter,”  SLB whispered  into my ear. “And Sara Ali Khan ’s going to be a  star   in  the next 7-8 years.”

Well,  it has  happened.

Sara Ali Khan was  chubby and chirpy and  very obviously an attention-getter. Sara Ali Khan has  only changed physically (and how!). In her  mind she’s still that 12-year old girl who will  hijack the limelight at  any cost. It is her self-assertion and her belief  in her  birthright  to have stardom that have turned Sara Ali Khan into an overnight star  in spite of  average performances in Kedarnath and Simmba.  And  in her third release Love Aaj Kal she  is pretty  much in  the zone that her  father Saif occupied in his  first few film.

But Saif was awkward. Sara Ali Khan   is super-confident and ready  to take on the world. Most important  of all she has a  very very sharp mind which she uses  predominantly for self-promotion in the best  possible way.

So yes , she has raced forward ahead  of her contemporaries. Even  Alaya F who is  in my opinion,  is  the best debutante since  Kareena Kapoor  and Alia  Bhatt,  acknowledges  Sara as  competition.  “She is very  popular and very intelligent ,” Alaya says with genuine  admiration.

Adds  film critic Raja Sen, “I think the fact that she has become  a meme  is helping her stand out from other  girls who  can be mistaken  for each other.”

Janhvi Kapoor who  came  in at around the same  time as Sara Ali Khan , is  not as  media-savvy and  paparazzi-friendly as Sara.  Like her mother the legendary Sridevi Janhvi is shy of  expressing her opinion  too loudly  in  public. Like Sridevi,  Jhanvi conserves her energy for the camera. Sara on  the other hand, is aware that  in the current  race for  instant recognition,  being in the  public eye  is as important as being seen on screen.

Sara wants to be  loved by everyone. I suspect  Sara Ali Khan will become a   bigger star  than both her parents and  as  popular as her grandmother Sharmila Tagore used  to be in her heydays.

You will  never  find Sara Ali Khan hanging  out in the wrong company.Her friends are only those who  make  a difference  to her career. She  lost Karan  Johar to Janhvi. But she will get there. Soon, be prepared for  Sara  to do a  Dharma Production. And her co-star won’t be  Kartik Aryan. It  will be someone in  the  league  of Ranbir  or Ranveer. 

And that adaab to Sanjay Bhansali won’t go to waste either.