Deepika Padukone

Even before their first film hits theatres on July 4, Imran Khan and Harman Baweja have signed numerous 'big' projects. While Imran—better known as Aamir Khan's nephew—has been signed for the lead role in Dhoom and Sanjay Gadhvi's action film Kidnap , Harman Baweja has signed up for a cricket flick, Victory , and for film-maker Ashutosh Gowariker's next project.

Kapoor kid Ranbir is starring in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Aye Haseeno while legendary singer Mukesh's grandson Neil has a Yash Raj film in his kitty. Sikander Kher, whose Woodstock Villa didn't impress at the box office, has a film coming up for release, Deepika Padukone has already signed three big films and Sonam Kapoor has been signed by Rakyesh Mehra for his film Dilli 6 .

A whole new batch of actors has emerged over the last one year and Bollywood is busy wooing them whether they're good, bad or indifferent. According to an industry estimate, close to Rs 500 crore is riding on these newcomers who are still to prove their box-office worthiness. "The business is in desperate need of saleable stars," says a trade observer.

"To make matter worse," he adds, "names like Shah Rukh, Aamir, Akshay or Hrithik are extremely choosy about the films they want to do and normally won't do more than one film a year. Where does that leave directors in a business that is getting more and more volume driven? We need more young actors who can carry films on their shoulders."

As recently as 2002, Vivek Oberoi was paid Rs 2.5 lakh for his debut film Company . Today's newcomers start at one crore. Imran Khan, even before the release of his first film, allegedly charges Rs 3 crore while Ranbir gets even more. Neil Nitin Mukesh hiked his price to about Rs 2 crore after Johnny Gaddar . Deepika Padukone has been demanding a crore with only one release to her credit.

"Since there is a substantial increase in the size of the industry, it's natural that more professionals are needed. Hollywood has a pool of stars which enables it to make more and more films and thrive as an industry. Our talent pool needs to increase too," notes a trade expert. "With new faces, there can be more projects and more creative options before film-makers."

However, even among the new entrants it's clear that only those with film backgrounds are getting a real slice of the pie. Outsiders are still unwelcome in this expanding industry which is seemingly open. "Yes, it's true that most of these newcomers are industry insiders," says an insider.

"There are many reasons for this, the primary one being that a newcomer with a film lineage is more saleable than a rank newcomer. The other obvious reason is proximity."

Film-maker Mahesh Bhatt says, "There's too much money chasing too little talent. The stars have become 'sacred property' thanks to the slave mentality of these desperate corporates who feel that only stars can make a movie work."

He adds, "Honestly, in most cases where you see newcomers being launched, it's nothing but a case of the grapes being sour. Producers who don't have access to stars end up making movies with newcomers. In any case, these newcomers are inevitably children or relatives of bigwigs in the film industry."