Here's Shahid & his brat pack!

by Subhash K Jha

Okay, here's one that you won't encounter on KBC. What's the common factor among these films: Prakash Mehra's Mela, Dharmesh Darshan's Mela and Mahesh Manjrekar's Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi!?

They all feature real-life siblings. While the two Melas featured the pair of Khan brothers — Feroz-Sanjay, Aamir-Faizal, respectively — Manjrekar's film which opens later this month has Shahid and his kid brother Eshaan together.

Eshaan not only features prominently in the cast, he also has a pivotal role. Sibling rivalry onscreen?

Chuckles Shahid, "It happened rather suddenly. When I started shooting for Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi!, Eshaan was never supposed to be in it. But one day we were shooting close to my house. So Eshaan dropped in on location. When he saw me shooting with 10-12 children Eshaan threw a fit. 'How can I not be in this with you when there are so many kids? Not fair!"

"Very hesitantly I asked my director if we can have Eshaan in the film. Mahesh not only cast Eshaan he gave him a prominent role. My brother is there throughout the film. And when Mahesh's son heard that my brother is in the film, he too wanted to be part of it. So both my brother and Mahesh's son are part of my gang of kids — somewhat like Hrithik Roshan's bratty brigade in Koi…Mil Gaya."

So is this a Karisma-Kareena kind of siblings' pair in Bollywood?

"No way. Eshaan is too much of a child. He needs to focus on his studies. Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi! is a Mr India kind of film where the kids had a whole lot of fun. Besides, it was shot during Eshaan's vacations. He's too young to be thinking of a movie career," says the doting star brother.

Eshaan hero-worships his brother. "He thinks even my worst film is a classic," Shahid smiles.