Sara Ali Khan: A Star Kid With A Separate Identity

Kedarnath begins with Sushant Singh Rajput, playing a Muslim boy, who is a porter to the shrine but with the entry of Sara whose character is this flamboyant woman who is not scared to follow her heart, and that's when his charm fades away. Sara’s character is a rebellious free spirit and unapologetic about following her heart to marry a man of her choice who is from a different religion.

Sara's performance in Kedarnath makes her stand out from all the other female star kids that has debuted in recent times. She is confident on-screen and off-screen which gives this Columbia-educated with her ‘Daddy I am for not sale’ attitude a special place in the Hindi film Industry.

Though Kedarnath has its similarity with Titanic, and ends abruptly with Sushant’s death, Sara’s performance stands out. To add, Sushant should be given credit for carrying heavy weights to the shrine for his task and not making a huge deal about it, which the media and people has largely ignored. Whenever women from entertainment backgrounds has entered the industry, whether it is Sonam Kapoor, Janhavi Kapoor or Alia Bhatt, they have always shown a submissive and docile behavior. They represent female delicacy and a charm of being beauty with no idea of what’s going on around them. Sara refuses to show herself as a pretty dumb doll. Instead, she is this Columbia-educated bona fide movie star with a sky-rocketing confidence, and a beauty queen who knows how to act better than any of her contemporaries.

While Dharak did well, Janhavi did not represent the same confidence in her performance on-screen which was visible in case of Sara. The constant comparison between the two doesn’t stand a chance with Sara’s charismatic personality that can also give the Khans, the Kumars, the Devgans a run for their money.

Kangana Ranuat, an outsider to teh film industry, has tried to take on the male-dominated industry which does not allow females to be at the forefront and lead. She has faced backlash for her I don't take any non-sense attitude, for taking pot-shots at Karan Johar and treatment of women in the Indian Film Industry. But, clearly, it’s not working for her. Being an outsider, then taking pot-shots at everyone does not land you on the top. You get termed as the trouble-maker.

While that’s true for Kangana, Sara who represents the similar confidence and acting talent, has an advantage over her. If Sara wants, she can take over the Khans, the Kumars, and the Devgns. Her persona comes out as this unapologetic confident star who can lead a film on her own merit and doesn’t need a man to make her film a success. The fact that she is an insider and daughter of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh gives her an edge to be that first actress that can take the men in industry head-on. On her debut interview on Koffee With Karan, she admitted openly that she is weird, she has PCOD and wishes to date Kartik Aaryan. While Karan Johar’s reaction to that was priceless, her ability to admit her hormonal issues has given alot of women the courage to talk about their hormonal issues as well. In India, 1 out of 10 women suffer wif PCOS/PCOD, and Sara has given them a reason to smile about it.

Whether it’s her family background, confidence, acting talent, education qualification, she stands out from the rest of the female and male star kids who cannot deliver the success, confidence, beauty and aspiration she gives to women and young girls who are looking for a role-model. She is a millennium that we have been looking for and the one who has finally arrived in the Indian Film Industry, and I am waiting for her performance to her to a point that one day she will win a National Award, or maybe even an Oscar. I wish her all the luck and success, waiting for her to be ‘the Khan’ of the coming generation.