Abhishek isn’t exactly like Hrithik or Salman in terms of TGIF-iness. But I know there is a certain segment of the population which appreciates him. And that part of that segment is in the comments section here. So I thought I might as well give him his very own post for his birthday week.
Let’s start with one of his very first picture. That’s the luxury with Abhishek, since his entire life has been documented by the media, we have oodles and oodles of images to pick through.
Here’s another one from back before he got so tall. Although already quite the thinker, look at how he is studying that grass!
Another one a few years later. I can’t decide if he was a shy little boy and needed his hand held, or if he was a wriggly little boy who was temporarily at bay and planning his escape.
Now, this one is just cute! Has such a father-son family trip vibe to it.
Speaking of family trip, oh my goodness is this the trippiest picture or what! Also, I feel for Jaya here. My mother has the same problem, she was the shortest one in the family by the time I turned 13 (I’m the youngest), and she had to go on all these family outings surrounded by giants.
But all those family outings paid off in long term love and affection. Check out teenage Abhishek being all touchy-feely!
He went through kind of awkward phase as a young man, although all teenage boys do really. Kind of too big for their own skin.
But he finally outgrew it, right around the time he started dating Karisma Kapoor. I had other pictures I could have used, but I like this one partly because I have NO IDEA what is happening in it. And partly because you can see tiny little Navya Naveli Nanda in the bottom right corner (another person whose entire childhood is documented).
And finally he burst forth, an official movie star! With Refugee! In which, I promise, he looked much better than he appears in this initial look test. And also less “What have I done?” in his expression.
And then he had flop pe flop pe flop for years. Not that there weren’t some good movies in there! Personally, I am quite quite fond of Kuch Na Kaho. Although I can see why it didn’t make him a star. His look just wasn’t quite there yet, he needed less of the eyebrows and more of the hair poof and beard. And also less of the collar buttons.
You see what I mean? You see how much better this is, his next movie with Ramesh Sippy?
He also nailed his “photo look” at this point. A little hunched over, and looking down and to the side. Actually, surprisingly similar to that second photo of him up at the top of the post! Except he is taller now and doesn’t wear a diaper.
And sometimes a fun one!
(Snake Dance!)
But you know what my favorite picture of him is? The one from back before he got married with his “steady date” for all the awards shows:
(Yep, Navya again! She loves the camera and the camera loves her)
dontcallitbollywood 
I can totally see Navya Naveli Nanda becoming an actress! Didn’t she go to school with Shahrukh’s son or something?
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Yes, they both went to an exclusive boarding school in London that seemed to kind of specialize in high profile kids. Small classes, small school, a place where they could just be kids and be supervised without all the craziness of growing up near their famous parents. I think Navya started there first, and then Aryan came a year later or something, and they graduated in the same class. Suhana is there now.
I always kind of pictured it as Gauri and Shahrukh worrying about Aryan being a teenager and a target for the press (and the mafia) in India, and mentioning this at some dinner party with the Bachchan’s, and them passing on the name of the school as a possible solution. Anyway, Navya and Aryan were friends at school, occasional instagram photos of them together pop up, everyone freaks out about “Aryan and Navya are dating!” But to me, it always just looked like they were part of a group of friends and that’s it.
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Oh yeah! I remember those rumors. I think that’s when I first heard of Navya.
By the way, has Karan mentioned anything about launching any new kids in his book? I think he was supposed to launch Jhanvi Kapoor and it’s expected that he will launch Shahrukh’s kids if they are interested.
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He didn’t, he focused on the end at how launching Sid and Varun and Alia, and keeping that kind of mentor/uncle relationship with them, inspired him to think more and more about fatherhood. Like he was kind of surprised by how close he became, and remained, with them.
So I don’t know what that means for his next launches! If he would be more hands off, because he can’t do that sort of adoption with another batch of young actors. Or if he would go into it knowing that it would turn into a lifelong connection and eager for that.
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I don’t think he could be that close with another group like he was with the SOTY trio, especially if he himself is not directing the launches. I remember reading that he’s launching Jhanvi Kapoor either in the sequel to SOTY which is being directed by Punit Malhotra or in Shiddat starring Varun and directed by Abhi Varman.
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Thanks for this post! I am definitely an AB fangirl as you may have figured out. He’s getting better with age for sure. I do absolutely love that he’s resisted the whole six pack thing, but a secret part of me wants him to go all out for just one film to prove that he can and because he’s never really used his physicality in that kind of way, right? I can’t think of any film he’s done where he is truly objectified, without some layer of comedy over it.
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Refugee came close, but that was more about the height and the similarity to his father, not like sexy beefcake.
Of course, I find humor so much sexier than a six pack, so I kind of love his layer of humor over the objectification. But if he could manage to pull off “Dard-E-Disco”, where it is both legitimately beefcake, and with a sense of humor about it, oh man! That would be the best!
On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 9:28 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have to rewatch Refugee. It was a bit of a slog for me, plus before my AB awakening in the past couple of years. I find him the most sexy in roles like Sarkar and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. His upcoming project with Prabhu Deva sounds dangerously like Drona to me, but I have hopes that Deva will do something like he did with Shahid in R…Rajkumar. Roughen the edges and see what happens kind of thing (also could be an excuse to get all muscle-y;)
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Oh many, Abhishek in those sunglasses and white shirt in Sarkar! That was a gooooooooooooooood look. And the whole “hidden depths, hides his feelings” kind of role was also really good on him.
On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 9:56 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Exactly! I saw Sarkar for the first time recently and that cemented my Abhishek crush. I still haven’t found a chance to watch the second one but I will before the third comes out.
Yep, and hidden feelings for Rani in one of the best pairings of all time. I just love that role in LCMD. I could almost do without the flare jeans (which are far too common in his filmi costumes) though.
I think my love for the Rani/AB jodi is the reason I could never really enjoy KANK. How could anyone give that up for SRK;)
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Sarkar Raj, just so you know, is really really really not as good as Sarkar. I feel like Sarkar had a very firm focus on Abhishek as the protagonist. But Sarkar Raj keeps changing from Abhishek to Aish to Amitabh in a way that really messes up the film. And I’m not saying any more because SPOILERS! But I want you to be prepared.
On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 10:49 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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