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 Vah 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, Mahesh Manjrekar's film which opens later
this month has Shahid and his kid- brother Eshaan together.
Ishaan not only features prominently in the cast, he also has pivotal role.
Sibling rivalry on screen? Chuckles Shahid, "It happened rather suddenly. When I started shooting
for Vah 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
Ishaan threw a fit. 'How can I not be in this with you when there're 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. Vah 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 Ishaan'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.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 16:16 IST