Trailer: Pancholi's son and Shetty's daughter get unimaginative launch

Hero is the most hackneyed of trailers that doesn’t try to break clutter or do anything at all new, says Raja Sen.

Hindi cinema today is made up of second-generation superstars.

But unlike back in the day when only bonafide superstars could really launch their kids, now any sort of familiar last name is enough to guarantee an entry to the big table.

This is a world where David Dhawan’s son and Shakti Kapoor’s daughter are legitimately awesome, and thus here we have another two upstarts seeking the spotlight without worrying about the mediocrity of their fathers’ careers.

Nikhil Advani’s reimagining of Subhash Ghai’s Hero stars Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya and Aditya Pancholi’s son, Sooraj, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with them -- except for the fact that they both remind us of their dads, every now and then.

Sooraj is a fine looking boy, buff and manly and ready for action, while Athiya is a pleasant-enough looking girl with plump lips and, as far as can be judged from this trailer, a YamiGautam-esque vulnerability.

And there’s the problem.

The trailer for Advani’s film promises us old melodrama in an old bottle, with a few drops of action thrown in.

There are winding roads, a kidnapping, Stockholm Syndrome the way only Bollywood can play it, and two romantics who love each other against all odds.

It is, in short, the most hackneyed of trailers that doesn’t try to break clutter or do anything at all new.

Look, Advani seems to say, Salman Khan is producing this film, so, well, go watch it.

No care seems to be given to showcase the new arrivals, give us an inkling of what possibly makes them special, and how Advani himself plans to take Hero forward.

Plus, the producers could have thought of a more opportune day to release the film than 9/11.

For now, the stage is set and the kids have the field: impress or vanish.

This trailer doesn’t help things much.