(From top) Jugal Hansraj with Naseeruddin Shah in Masoom; Baby Guddu in Kudrat Ka Kanoon; Rucha Vaidya in Main Aisa Hi Hoon; Baby Naaz in Payal; Shweta Prasad in Makdee; and Daisy Irani in Adhi Roti'

Little children, when they lisp twinkle twinkle little star, the stars they may be dreaming of may well be the Ayeshas and Ruchas and Shwetas that lit up screens this year, or the Eshaans (li’ bro of Shahid Kapur, who is still a kid himself, anyway) all set to ring in the new year singing, Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi! Stars in the sky our children don’t get to see much of, anyway. Though Rucha Vaidya, one of the cho-chweetest little stars to twinkle this year, may some day write a long, impressive thesis on the stars in the sky. For, after innumerable TV ads and two films this year, Main Aisa Hi Hoon with Ajay Devgan and Ek Ajnabee with the Big B himself, this li’ one has apparently expressed a desire to be a scientist. Before you say, Amen to that, let’s go back to the year-beginning.

A little girl with wild curls became the darling of the nation. Ayesha Kapoor. “Who’s that girl?” was the question on everyone’s lips. The little girl who lit up Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black easily eclipsed every little star that twinkled this year or the several years past. Again, with the biggest star of the millennium, Amitabh Bachchan. Literally, like the diamond in the nursery rhyme, leaving us dazzled with the heights this half-German, half-Indian girl had scaled at the age of nine. Nearly a year has passed and “Where’s that girl?’ is the question everyone’s asking now. But the little star is nowhere to be seen and doesn’t wish to be, either. Except in a 13-minute docufilm by music director Aadesh Shrivastava, Sanaa. A film on child prostitution and trafficking, also starring Shabana Azmi and Seema Biswas.

Another little star, Shweta Prasad, that seemed to have dimmed for a while after shining in her delightful double-roled Chunni-Munni act in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Makdee, shone forth again in Nagesh Kukunoor’s Iqbal. She’s grown since and though she put in a fine supporting performance, she got more mention for being the Makdee girl in Iqbal than for the role itself. Just like Kunal Khemu is being mentioned in Kalyug. Before one talks of his role in the just released film one doesn’t forget to mention he’s the Zakhm-child. That was in 1998, when he played the younger, Ajay Devgan, in the Mahesh Bhatt film. Seven years in the where-are-you orbit and he’s back to doing what every child artiste nurtures a secret desire to do, whether he/she admits it or not.

That is, leave behind the lakdi-ki-kaathi-kaathi-ka-ghoda days and yoodle, Ra-Ra-Rangeela re?. But for every Urmila Matondkar who is able to transform her Masoom image to the rangeeli of every adult fantasy, there’s a Jugal Hansraj who, years after his Masoom days, was still humming, Papa Kehte Hain, and later not even that, unless you can recall him in the forgettable role in Mohabbatein. And it’s not just the Ram Gopal Varma factor that’s taken Urmila to where she is, while Jugal like many others got left behind. It’s the way she managed to break away from her Masoom identity, wipe out that pony-tailed, satchel-clutching little girl image and packaged herself in a new hot ’’ happenin’ avataar.

In fact, the cuter and more powerful the childhood image, the tougher is the attempt to break away. Master Raju, first cast as a three-year-old in Parichay by Gulzar, went on to become almost a must-have in Bollywood films in the 70s, often stealing the scene from the lead actors, as in Kitaab. But no big banners followed till he tried adolescent roles, and failed. So very much like Mehmood Jr.

Trapped in an image too strongly stamped. As was Baby Naaz, always a baby Naaz. Baby Rucha may really have the luxury of choice, and Ayesha too may have the privilege of rambling about wanting to write and be with beloved horses and desire to be in film like Seabiscuit, but there have been many little stars in the past who toiled hard to keep the shine going. But were forced to dim out. Baby Naaz remained forever the Boot Polish girl. Honey and Daisy, the Irani sisters, who too were household names, lost the glitter as they grew up. Though Honey has been writing scripts and Daisy acting in an occasional film.

Later on, in the 80s, there was pony-tailed Baby Guddu, twinkling bright and cute. But where’s she now? A little star to a shooting star, like so many strong-imaged child artistes. Tabassum, who too first faced the camera at the age of three, hits the bull’s-eye when she says that after having been around for so long as a child artiste, it’s difficult to be accepted by people suddenly as a romantic heroine. From being a little doll to a diva over whom the nation drools is a difficult act to follow. As is the hunk act from the Master So-and-so roles the little boys were used almost as part of formula.

Or being tucked into the film for the first 15 minutes to play the child hero/heroine. From Master Babloo, probably the first mainstay child star as part of the formula in the 60s, to Master Alankar (brother of child actress grown up to be Pallavi Joshi, and who patented the child Amitabh look) to Master Satyajit (famous for singing in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice, Tu kitni achchhi hai, tu kitni pyaari hai... Maa), all of whom failed to strike it big. At the most they survived as soft-heroes like Sachin in Rajshree films. It’s not as if none of the divas and hunks faced the camera as little stars themselves, though.

Some of the brightest of Bollywood stars have done so at some point or other. Whether it’s our Hawa-hawaai Sridevi or Padmini Kolhapure who was the big little Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram. From there to Prem Rog it was not a difficult journey for her. Little Nanda who in a way was forced by economic circumstances to act, was part of films like Jaggu and Angaarey in the early 50s. Neetu Singh, who grew into Rishi Kapoor’s screen and life partner, also began as a child artiste Baby Sonia in the superhit Do Kaliyan, followed by other roles in Pavitra Paapi and Waaris. For that matter, Rishi himself gave a sterling performance as a child artiste in Mera Naam Joker (“Main bachcha nahin hoon!”) and followed it up with the Bobby blast in the firsts flush of adulthood. Easier, too, it was for Sarika to grow into a pretty actress after having little-boy roles as a child artiste. None of them fortunately got typecast in the child-artiste slot. They moved on after a good role here or there. Tabu, Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan too have faced the camera as kids.

Far from fading away, there have also been actors like Kamalahasan, who started his career as a child in a Tamil film Kalathur Kannamma, and versatile actress Shobana who entered the tinsel world at the age of nine, who have gone on to twinkle brighter still. Forced off films by her parents, Shobana re-entered at 13 and after a long, successful career, in recent times too been part of good films like Revathy’s Mitr and Mahesh Dattani’s Dance Like A Man. One can also point out a plump, dark Rekha as a child actor in a Telugu film, Rangula Ratnam, who like Urmila could move on to being a Khubsoorat femme fatale the nation still drools over. Or a Khushboo, from being a Baby Khushboo, presented by Sunil Dutt in Dard Ka Rishta as the star of the film, following it up with a successful career and at 35 still going strong with matters to do with South films, deification, and premarital sex.

Why the where-you-are and what-you-are question shouldn’t really rankle the little stars of yesteryear is that while they shone, they shone bright and long. Today most of them twinkle and die out. A few years from now will Sana Saeed of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai be in any way remembered as a Baby Naaz is? Unless, she can manage an Urmila act? Do we ever remember the little boy in Akele Hum Akele Tum who at the time of the film’s release had the nation singing with him and Aamir, Hum tum sang hain to phir kya hai gham? Or the star of the film, Rahul, who actually played the title role? Who knows, from being a baby who was passed from one loving hand to another and to giving voice to Hum Hain Lajawab, the Hindi version of The Incredibles, little star Aryan may too grow up to sing like Papa Shah Rukh, Chaand taare tod laaoon?.

Shahid Kapur and Amrita Rao with the kids in Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi! including Shahid’s brother Eshaan