Hema Malini vs Esha Deol Deol

“Kisi shaayar ki ghazal, kisi jheel ka kamal.” No one ever doubted that. She was a vision of loveliness, totally beautiful — what if it was with a touch of the schoolmarm? The woman who could give a man goose bumps and also make him want to take her home to his mother every time she screamed “Nahiiiiin” in that South Indian drawl. She was “Dreamgirl”: Indianese for perfect features, perfect figure, perfect poise. Sanjeev Kumar wanted to take her home, Jeetendra wanted to take her home, but finally Dharmendra took her home. Sometimes Hema acted well too.

But Esha, the Deol daughter at age 26, has none of the looks of her mother. Or father. (Ok, we grant the trademark Hema forehead.) The sexy turnaround in Dhoom and Kaal made some eyes pop out, but let’s face it — a fully clothed Hema at 60 is more sensuous than Esha in her skimpy nothings. And when the two come together on the dance stage or for a commercial, all eyes — young and old — are on Hema.
Celebspeak: “Hema Malini is Hema Malini. No one can rival her beauty, her aura and the special something that she brought to her films. I did like Esha in Dhoom, but she has a long way to go before she can catch up with her mother,” says actress Koneenica Banerjee.

Fanspeak: “Hema Malini was good-looking and sensuous and a terrific actress. Esha, on the other hand, isn’t pretty and tries too hard to look hot, often unsuccessfully,” says fashion photographer Kaustav Saikia.

Sharmila Tagore vs Soha Ali Khan

She was the wild child of the 70s. Way ahead of her time, Sharmila was the only Bollywood heroine — apart from Zeenat Aman — who didn’t think twice before slipping into a swimsuit on screen. The coiffured bun, the sexy saris, the dark eye-makeup, Sharmila Tagore was a trendsetter. Her oomph, however, never diminished her acting skills. Sharmila could at once be the docile wife of Apur Sansar, the sharmeeli teenager of Kashmir Ki Kali, the suffering woman of Mausam and the femme fatale of An Evening In Paris. The men just couldn’t have enough.

 

 

Soha Ali Khan may be a classic beauty in the Sharmila Tagore mould, but she lacks the spunk and spark of her mother. Inhibited and a private person, Soha will very often just pull on a pair of jeans and a tee and stroll into a film function without makeup. “Soha in Khoya Khoya Chand was beautiful, just like her mother. She does have the (bulbous) Pataudi nose, but there isn’t much she can do about it,” says actress June. But even a swimsuit cover for Maxim magazine couldn’t help Soha rival the Sharmila sexiness.
Celebspeak: “Sharmila was bold, beautiful and brazen. She had an amazing effect on men. Soha lacks the in-your-face stance that is so Sharmila,” says ad man Prahlad Kakkar.

Fanspeak: “Sharmila was one of the hottest actresses of her time and today she is grace personified. Soha may be pretty, but seems artificial in her mannerisms,” says software engineer Tanushree De.

Dimple Kapadia vs Twinkle Khanna

When a 16-year-old stuck her hand out and said: “Mera naam Bobby hai. Mujhse dosti karoge?” an entire nation missed a heart beat. A short-skirted Dimple Kapadia burst on the scene with the 1973 blockbuster Bobby and proved that innocent could be sexy too. Marriage and a break of 12 years followed and Dimple returned to scorch the screen with Sagar. A flash of her cleavage — or a little more than that — on a Goa beach, auburn clouds of hair cascading down her shoulders, or her abandon in a red sari, or her attempts to abandon the red sari, as she pleaded Jaane do naa to Rishi Kapoor, making him so middle-aged, shot her, from oblivion, to every Indian man’s fantasy. Dimple Kapadia, 51, cuts across generations, from dadu to naati, even as she plays an alcoholic in Dil Chahta Hai or a colourful home maker in Being Cyrus.

What has Twinkle done, apart from acting in films like —sorry, what were their names? Oh, she married Akshay Kumar! Twinkle is hot, but ordinary hot. Dimple is sizzling. The only thing they have in common is the art of candle-making.

Celebspeak: “If I can borrow a line from their current profession, I would say that Twinkle can’t hold a candle to her mother! Twinkle is really lucky — she has a gorgeous mother and a really handsome husband,” says Mir.

Fanspeak: “Think Dimple and it’s a vision of her in the O Maria song from Sagar. The yellow dress that would appear so weird on anyone else looked super–sexy on her. Twinkle just leaves no impact,” says content writer Mitali Banerjee.

Vinod Khanna vs Akshaye Khanna

The super-sexy cleft left millions of girls swooning. The twinkle of the eye and the disarming manly charm only added to the dreamboat that was called Vinod Khanna. The Cinthol ads! The man was hot and he knew it. The eternal romantic of Qurbani came as easily to him as the man struggling with his personal demons in Mere Apne and Achanak. He matched role for role, performance for performance with numero uno Amitabh Bachchan. When he gave it all up to join the Osho commune, Khanna was called the “sexy sanyasi”!

 

Brooding? Yes. Intense? Yes. Cleft? Yes. Vinod Khanna part 2? No. Akshaye Khanna may have an impressive Bollywood resume to his name, but so what? He barely figures on the hot list. The balding younger Khanna, who likes to suggest that he doesn’t pay much attention to his looks or clothes, can’t boast of even half the female fan following that his father commanded in his heyday.

Celebspeak: “Akshaye’s got his father’s acting skills and Rahul (his elder brother) his good looks, but Vinod Khanna was a complete package of looks and acting talent. Even today, the man is electric,” says VJ-turned-actor Luke Kenny.

Fanspeak: “I would get goosebumps every time Vinod Khanna made his way to the screen. For me, he has been the ultimate Bollywood hero — a yummy blend of brawn and brain,” gushes 37-year-old homemaker Shalini Ghosh.

Dharmendra vs Sunny Deol

Even when he went “Kuttey main tera khoon pee jaaunga,” Garam Dharam was super-hot. Conventional good looks coupled with an enviable physique and a million-dollar smile contributed to the Dharmendra popularity. Though sandwiched by the romantic Rajesh Khanna and the rebel Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra held his own. Sholay’s Veeru, Satyakam’s Satyapriya Acharya or Chupke Chupke’s Pyare Mohan Allahabadi — we loved Dharam paaji in every role.

 

 

Acting laurels did not come Dharmendra’s way. His eldest born Sunny more than made up for it, with a National Award to his name. Sunny matches his dad for brawn and bellows like a bull too. But does the Deol son give dad any competition in the looks department? No way!

Celebspeak: “Dharmendra’s good looks and the effect he had on the audience as a romantic hero can’t be easily rivalled. His sons Sunny and Bobby are nowhere close to him in terms of popularity and looks. Dharmendra was always a class apart,” says June. Adds television presenter Mir: “For me, Dharmendra is a 10-plus on 10. Sunny may be 4 on 10, Bobby not even that.”
Fanspeak: “If I am asked today to choose one of the three Deol men, it will be Dharmendra with whom I would ask to go out on a date,” chuckles PR professional Samyukta Choudhuri, 33.

Aparna Sen vs Konkona Sensharma

Konkona Sensharma may have emerged as a far more successful actress, nationally, than mom Aparna could ever be, but in the looks department there can be no second opinion. Aparna’s perfectly honed features, eyes that speak a thousand words and the vulnerability that she brought to many of her on-screen characters make her memorable. In her younger days, she looked like a Da Vinci painting. And she is a brilliant director. Konkona may conquer more Bollywood roles (and men!), but Mom is still hotter.

Celebspeak: “Konkona is undoubtedly the better actress — having made a mark in Bollywood and bagging awards for many of her performances — but Aparna is definitely the better looker of the two. Her work as a director is amazing,” says June.

Fanspeak: “Aparna was sexy. Period. Compared to her, Konkona is Plain Jane,” says media professional Susmit Gupta.

 

 

 

Jeetendra vs Tusshar Kapoor

How many men can claim to look exactly the way they did four decades ago? Jeetendra is known as much for his fitness and vitality as he is for his fetish for white shoes and white trousers. A versatile man, Jeetendra could at once burn the dance floor (he was called Jumping Jack and he didn’t mind!) and leave an impression with his performances in Parichay and Kinara. When it came to being a ladies man, there were few that could beat Jeetendra at the game.

 

One look at Jeetendra shaking a leg with Tusshar in the Deewangi deewangi song in Om Shanti Om and you would know the truth. Tusshar is what?

Celebspeak: “Neither does Tusshar have Jeetendra’s good looks, nor his acting talent or his dancing skills. Tusshar may be hitting the gym everyday, but can’t match up to his father’s energy or fitness, even at this age,” says Mir.

Fanspeak: “Every time I see Tusshar on-screen, I can’t help but laugh. You can make out that the man just doesn’t like being in front of the camera, but is being forced to. Can you ever imagine Tusshar dancing to Tohfa tohfa and Nainon mein sapna?” asks copywriter Faraz Khan.

 

Lillete Dubey vs Neha Dubey

Elegant. Classy. Beautiful. Mature. Knowing. At 50-plus, Lillete Dubey catches the eye and keeps it. Sari or a trouser-suit, she looks like a million bucks, for the thinking man. Add to that her powerhouse performances on stage and in films. The sexy, hoarse-from-smoke voice. And she definitely doesn’t look like the mother of a 25-year-old!

 

Neha Dubey gets cast only in films like Monsoon Wedding and Bow Barracks Forever, where her mother steals the show. She lives too much in her mother’s shadow to make much of an impact. She looks the same, only isn’t half as beautiful.

Celebspeak: “Lillete carries herself very well. She has a certain aura and attracts people. Neha is more subdued,” says Luke Kenny.

Fanspeak: “I love the way Lillete dresses. She is extremely classy. It’s early days for Neha yet,” says college student Maya Parekh.

 

 

...And the ulta-pulta

Yesteryear actor Rakesh Roshan may be a top-notch director, but he has another identity now: that of being Hrithik Roshan’s father. Roshan senior had acted in some eminently likeable films like Kaamchor and Khubsoorat. But faced with son Hrithik’s larger-than-life persona, his acting talents and his mind-boggling dancing (not to mention the chemistry with Ash), the resume of Rakesh Roshan the actor simply doesn’t match up. The proud father couldn’t be happier about it. “I am so happy that Hrithik has achieved so much more than I ever did as an actor,” Rakesh Roshan has been quoted as saying.

Priyanka Roy
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