Shahid Kapoor career analysisi : Beginning of the end ?

With his latest release Shaandaar' biting the dust, Shahid Kapoor is now being called the industry's most talented under-achiever. Given the fact that he has everything it takes to make it big as a popular Bollywood actor, box office failure has been Shahid's constant companion throughout his 13 year old career.

Back in 2003, when Shahid made his debut in Ishq Vishq, Hrithik Roshan was going through the worst phase of his career. His much-awaited film Maine Prem Ki Deewani Hoon' tanked at the box office and Ishq Vishq' was moderately success. More than the success of Ishq Vishq', the industry took notice of a young Shahid who had chocolate boy' looks and also danced like a dream.

Hrithik was written off and Shahid, along with the likes of Vivek Oberoi and a few others, were expected to be the future stars of the industry.

Since then, almost every top banner in the industry has invested on Shahid Kapoor, but the actor, time and again, has promised a lot, but failed to deliver.

Apart from Vivah, none of his films have gone on to be money-spinners at the box office. Even Vivah did not open well, but picked up because of excellent word-of-mouth publicity. The credit for which belongs more to a certain Sooraj R Barjatya, than Shahid.

Jab We Met too relied on word-of-mouth and Kareena walked away with all the accolades. R.. Rajkumar was probably the only Shahid film that took a better than expected' start at the box office, but even that film, along with Haider, just about managed to break even.

With R.. Rajkumar and Haider performing fairly well, expectations from Shaandaar were high. Marriage, some said, would turn the fortunes around for Shahid. Unfortunately, Shaandaar is likely to go on to be the biggest disappointment of his career so far.

His next two films, Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab and Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon, are likely to be off-beat films.

So the big question is, where does Shahid go from here? Is this the beginning of the end or can he turn things around? With top banners like Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions suffering heavy losses from Shahid Kapoor starrers, will other banners / producers invest money on his commercial' films?

Check out the box office verdicts of Shahid Kapoor films. For an actor who made his debut in 2003, an average of Rs 25 crore per film is dismal to say the least. Hrithik, who made his debut 3 years before Shahid, averages Rs 60 crore per film release. And Ranbir Kapoor, who made his debut 4 years after Shahid, has an average of Rs 63 crore per film.