August 24, 2008 by Sanjay Nair
We all look for growth in an organization or industry. And growth does happen provided you stick to your task and play your cards well. That elusive promotion can take time to come but eventually it will happen. The world of entertainment is no different. Television is big today. Much bigger than it was a decade ago. A leading TV star today enjoys massive fan following and celebrity status. He/she earns a 7 figure salary each month. Leading soaps have a viewership base that spans across countries. But what if he/she is looking for further growth? What if he/she is simply not satisfied with the canvas and needs a bigger playground? What follows next is called the jump. In the jump, a TV star attempts to make a transition from the small screen to the big one at the peak of his/her career. That too when the jump has a very very low success rate.
Several stars have attempted it before but only a selected few have made it big. Others have burnt their fingers, learnt their lesson and attempted to make a comeback only to realize that they don't have the same status in television anymore. Today, we will look at the top 5 jump attempts and their success rate.
The top 5
5. Kartika Rane: Beginning at number 5 we have Kartika Rane. While this is a name that you might not be familiar with, Kartika was the lady who played the lead in the soap 'Hum Pardesi ho Gaye'. She was a fairly successful face on television when she was promised the lead in a Vikram Bhatt period flick with none other than Anil Kapoor. The offer was too alluring to ignore and Kartika made the jump. And in typical Bollywood Ishtyle, the film got shelved. Kartika was left in the doldrums and today, is a forgotten face making desperate attempts for a comeback.
4. Amar Upadhyay: This is probably going to be a part of television industry's folklore for years to come. Amar Upadhyay aka Mihir of the popular soap 'Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi' by Balaji Telefilms, had achieved a demigod status. There was a massive public outcry when his character was killed in the soap and dharnas and morchas to the producers' office followed soon. Soon, Mihir's character was resurrected and Amar Upadhyay was the biggest and the highest paid star on TV. But he started to develop starry aspirations and quit the show at the pinnacle of its success to make the jump. Two super flop films, 'Dhund' and 'Wah Wah Ramji' and a bits and pieces role in Dev Anand's 'Censor' ensured that Amar had sealed his fate. He was just another wannashine on the big screen. He has made numerous attempts to comeback to the small screen. But nobody seems to want him post his infamous breakup with Ekta Kapoor, the queen bee of TV.
3. Prachi Desai: Prachi was the leading lady on TV at a nascent age of 17. Another Balaji Telefilms product, she played Bani in the highly popular soap, 'Kasam Se'. She made the jump recently for a Farhan Akhtar film called Rock On. The film was not a runaway hit. But Prachi's performance was noticed. She has signed a few more films already and her jump is one of the success stories. But it remains to be seen if she replicates her success on the small screen.
2. Rajeev Khandelwal: Undoubtedly, the second most successful jump till date. Rajeev Khandelwal aka Sujal from the soap Kahin to Hoga was a household name when he broke up with Ekta Kapoor. His detractors wrote him off saying he was another Amar Upadhyay in the making. But Rajeev always had a spark that separated him from the rest. He made a superb debut with Aamir, an unconventional movie. Rajeev's jump has been successful and will be an inspiration for many more TV stars to come.
1. Shahrukh Khan: Last but not the least; we have SRK, the baadshah of Bollywood himself. From a small TV star to the king of the box office, it has been a steady rise and rise for Shahrukh Khan. We still remember his stint in Circus and also in Fauji.
But there was a huge difference in the TV of yesteryears and the TV of today. There was only Doordarshan and people simply loved watching every bit of it. But there are 50 channels and 500 soaps today and TV stars are overexposed even before
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