10 Celebrities You Probably Forgot Used to be Child Stars

Highlights

• You probably remember little Aamir Khan in Yaadon Ki Baarat and tiny Imran Khan in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. You couldn't have forgotten Baby Urmila in Masoom and the junior (and far more endearing) versions of Kunal Khemu and Aftab Shivdasani in Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke and Mr India. You probably even remember Kirsten Dunst as a pint-sized bloodsucker opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview With a Vampire. But you may have forgotten that these uber-celebs also began young, very young.
• Sridevi was only 13 when she played her first lead role in Moondru Mudichu (1976) opposite Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth but she began her screen career way earlier, aged all of four. She appeared in a string of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, even winning a Kerala State Award for Best Child Artist. Sridevi was 12 when she played the younger sister in Julie (1975), her first Hindi film.
• Rekha's first film appearance, as Baby Bhanurekha, was in Telugu film Rangula Ratnam (1966). She was 12. The success of the film - it won a National Award - probably helped the young Rekha graduate to grown-up roles, first in Kannadiga and other South language films and then in the Hindi-language Sawan Bhadon.
• Neetu Singh was a popular face on screen even before she did the hippy hippy shake in Yaadon Ki Baarat's hit song Lekar Hum Deewana Dil in 1973. She had already appeared in films like Do Kaliyaan , Waaris, Dus Lakh and Pavitra Paapi as a child star in the late Sixties.
• Hrithik Roshan's grandfather, producer J Om Prakash, cast him in 1980's Aasha at the age of six. He then appeared in bit roles in many films over the next few years, made by his grandfather or father Rakesh Roshan. His biggest role was in 1986's Bhagwan Dada which starred Rakesh Roshan, Rajinikanth and Sridevi. Hrithik was 12.
• Shashi Kapoor, born into the second generation of what was to become Bollywood's most enduring dynasty, began appearing on-screen aged 10. He played the younger version of elder brother Raj Kapoor in films like Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951) and also appeared in films like Sangram and Dana Paani in the Fifties.
• Shashi Kapoor
• Padmini Kolhapure was 13 when she played the younger version of Zeenat Aman's character Rupa in the controversial 1978 film Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She also appeared in films like Saajan Bina Suhagan and Ek Khiladi Baawan Pattey before graduating to lead roles and an eventual hit screen partnership with Rajesh Khanna.
• Christian Bale's turn as Batman was a thing of the very distant future when he made his debut in 1986 TV movie Anastasia, aged 12. At 13, he was feted for his performance in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Henry V, Treaure Island and A Murder of Quality were his last roles as a child star. He made cult film Newsies - a role he has said he wants to forget - when he was 18 and was 20 when he was cast in Little Women, opposite Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst.
• Scarlett Johansson is a screen siren now but in 1997's Home Alone 3, she was just an annoying slightly-older sister. ScarJo was nine when she debuted in 1994 comedy North. He best-known performance as a child star was in The Horse Whisperer (1998), directed by Robert Redford. There was then little sign of the cat-suited sex symbol she would grow up to become.
• Leonardo DiCaprio has been dating supermodels and failing to win scars for so long that it's hard to remember him as he was when he first started out, acting in commercials at 14 and TV show Parenthood at 16. He was briefly on long-running TV soap Santa Barbara. He was 19 when appeared in his breakthrough role in This Boy's Life (1992) but looked much younger.
• Claire Danes is a veteran of film and TV, having appeared on an episode of Law & Order at the age of 12 and played Beth March in Little Women (1994) aged 14. She was only 15 when she won a Golden Globe for her role on TV drama My So-Called Life. She was 17 when she was cast in her breakthrough role in Romeo Juliet (1996) opposite Leonardo.
• You probably remember little Aamir Khan in Yaadon Ki Baarat and tiny Imran Khan in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. You couldn't have forgotten Baby Urmila in Masoom and the junior (and far more endearing) versions of Kunal Khemu and Aftab Shivdasani in Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke and Mr India. You probably even remember Kirsten Dunst as a pint-sized bloodsucker opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview With a Vampire. But you may have forgotten that these uber-celebs also began young, very young.
• Sridevi was only 13 when she played her first lead role in Moondru Mudichu (1976) opposite Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth but she began her screen career way earlier, aged all of four. She appeared in a string of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, even winning a Kerala State Award for Best Child Artist. Sridevi was 12 when she played the younger sister in Julie (1975), her first Hindi film.
• Rekha's first film appearance, as Baby Bhanurekha, was in Telugu film Rangula Ratnam (1966). She was 12. The success of the film - it won a National Award - probably helped the young Rekha graduate to grown-up roles, first in Kannadiga and other South language films and then in the Hindi-language Sawan Bhadon.
• Neetu Singh was a popular face on screen even before she did the hippy hippy shake in Yaadon Ki Baarat's hit song Lekar Hum Deewana Dil in 1973. She had already appeared in films like Do Kaliyaan , Waaris, Dus Lakh and Pavitra Paapi as a child star in the late Sixties.
• Hrithik Roshan's grandfather, producer J Om Prakash, cast him in 1980's Aasha at the age of six. He then appeared in bit roles in many films over the next few years, made by his grandfather or father Rakesh Roshan. His biggest role was in 1986's Bhagwan Dada which starred Rakesh Roshan, Rajinikanth and Sridevi. Hrithik was 12.
• Shashi Kapoor, born into the second generation of what was to become Bollywood's most enduring dynasty, began appearing on-screen aged 10. He played the younger version of elder brother Raj Kapoor in films like Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951) and also appeared in films like Sangram and Dana Paani in the Fifties.
• Padmini Kolhapure was 13 when she played the younger version of Zeenat Aman's character Rupa in the controversial 1978 film Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She also appeared in films like Saajan Bina Suhagan and Ek Khiladi Baawan Pattey before graduating to lead roles and an eventual hit screen partnership with Rajesh Khanna.
• Christian Bale's turn as Batman was a thing of the very distant future when he made his debut in 1986 TV movie Anastasia, aged 12. At 13, he was feted for his performance in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Henry V, Treaure Island and A Murder of Quality were his last roles as a child star. He made cult film Newsies - a role he has said he wants to forget - when he was 18 and was 20 when he was cast in Little Women, opposite Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst.
• Scarlett Johansson is a screen siren now but in 1997's Home Alone 3, she was just an annoying slightly-older sister. ScarJo was nine when she debuted in 1994 comedy North. He best-known performance as a child star was in The Horse Whisperer (1998), directed by Robert Redford. There was then little sign of the cat-suited sex symbol she would grow up to become.
• Leonardo DiCaprio has been dating supermodels and failing to win scars for so long that it's hard to remember him as he was when he first started out, acting in commercials at 14 and TV show Parenthood at 16. He was briefly on long-running TV soap Santa Barbara. He was 19 when appeared in his breakthrough role in This Boy's Life (1992) but looked much younger.
• Claire Danes is a veteran of film and TV, having appeared on an episode of Law & Order at the age of 12 and played Beth March in Little Women (1994) aged 14. She was only 15 when she won a Golden Globe for her role on TV drama My So-Called Life. She was 17 when she was cast in her breakthrough role in Romeo Juliet (1996) opposite Leonardo.