They flaunt designer labels, walk the red carpet at gazillion award ceremonies, speak to the media with diplomacy, endorse big brands, and even compete with established actors for major awards. New age child actors are super talented and have a huge fan following.
Monday is Children's Day and MetroPlus scouts around to find who the most loved small wonders on-screen are.
Engineering student Daniel Samuel casts his vote in favour of Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) from “Full House”. He says: “I love her smile and the way she'd say ‘how rude!' and I also like the character she played in the sitcom.”
Rahul Papali, owner of a popular watering hole in the city gives the kid in “Real Steel” full points. “Max Kenton (Dakoto Goyo) essayed his role extremely well. He came across as someone who knew what he wanted and did the necessary to get it. Also he believed in his robot!”
Talent aside, Sridhar TVN, senior strategic marketing manager, EMI quips: “I'd vote for Kirsten Dunst in ‘Interview with the Vampire' because she is the girlfriend I would have wanted to have at that age. I also liked the little kid from Jerry Maguire. I'd have enjoyed being his father!”
People have their favourite Bollywood child actors too. “I absolutely adored Darsheel Safary in ‘Taare Zameen Par'. He did justice to his role and I don't know of anyone who left the theatre without shedding a tear. I love kids who can bring out these kinds of emotions in adults,” opines Sarah Mathew, a homemaker.
Her husband Nitin is however in awe of Tanay Chheda who played Rajan Damodaran (Darsheel's friend in TZP) and young Jamal in Oscar-winning film, “Slumdog Millionaire”. “When I saw him in TZP I just knew he had the potential to make it big. If he hadn't played the part of young Jamal so well, there's no way Dev Patel's character would have touched the lives of those who watched the movie.”
Small screen kid stars are quite popular too. Sweeny Khara (“Ba”, “Bahu aur Baby”, etc), Shriya Sharma and Dheriya Sorecha (“Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass se Tez Hain?”) have all found fans among us, whether for their talent or for simply being cute.
“I love watching dance and music reality shows that involve children because they are just so adorable. They say and do funny thingsand are so sweet that some of the judges feel bad to oust them from the show even if their performance for the day was pathetic. But what stands out most about these youngster is that they never hide how they really feel. It's so touching to watch every child on the show cry when one of the participants is eliminated. I think children give us a lot to learn and reflect on,” feels Supriya Shanbagh, a lecturer of Psychology.
Whether on screen or off it, children are talented in their own special ways. While some may have Facebook pages dedicated to them and websites of their own, others have their biggest fans in their own parents. Children are born with that innate ability to make us learn from life what we've never known before and to put a smile on our faces just like that. They might be brats alright, but there's no denying life would be a bore without them.
