Just what is wrong with Kareena's man?

Shahid Kapur has a problem. His films are flopping badly, one after the other. Last year, three of the young actor's films sunk without a trace at the box office.

Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi and Shikhar flopped back to back. So did the multi-starrer Deewane Huye Pagal.

But when Shahid -- son of actor Pankaj Kapur and Neelima Kapur – burst onto the scene with the 2002 surprise hit Ishq Vishq, he was being touted as the next Shah Rukh Khan [ Images ].

Parallels were drawn between him and the Bollywood badshah – in terms of looks and dancing abilities.

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In fact, Shah Rukh himself said in a recent interview that Shahid was the only hero he can visualise playing 'Rahul' -- the character that the King Khan [ Images ] has mostly played in his hit films.

The going was good for Shahid then because Hrithik Roshan's [ Images ] career was going nowhere and Abhishek Bachchan [ Images ] was struggling to find a hit.

"You don't need to have godfathers in the industry to prove yourself," Shahid told rediff.com after the success of Ishq Vishq.

"Look at Amitabh Bachchan [ Images ] and Shah Rukh Khan. Both of them became superstars and had no film background," the young actor added.

However, having a godfather in the industry helped Bachchan Junior after he delivered hits like Bunty Aur Bably and Sarkar [ Images ] last year with his old man by his side.

Hrithik's fortunes too changed after Koi... Mil Gaya became a big hit in 2003. This year again, Hrithik has two big films coming up: Krrish [ Images ], the sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya, and Dhoom 2.

Saif Ali Khan [ Images ] turned out to be Bollywood's dark horse, delivering hits like Hum Tum [ Images ] and Salaam Namaste [ Images ]. John Abraham [ Images ] too found a niche for himself with Dhoom.

But since 2004, when he starred in the flop Fida with his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor [ Images ], things have been only going downhill for Shahid.

In fact, the only time he made big news in recent memory was because of a cell phone video clip that purportedly caught him and Kareena snogging in a Mumbai [ Images ] discotheque last year. Both of them claimed the images were morphed.

The question is: How did things go wrong with Shahid?

"I think he chose wrong scripts and bad films. He was with the wrong filmmakers after the success of his first film. I think he did not understand on how to choose a right film at that time," says film trade analyst Komal Nahta.

Before the release of Shikhar, when we asked Shahid why his films were not clicking, he said, "When I did Ishq Vishq no one wrote about it; but that went on to become a hit. About Fida and other films there was too much of buzz but none clicked. So you never know what will click in this industry." 

Is Shahid's box-office fate sealed then? Trade analyst Vinod Mirani does not feel so.

"There is no guarantee today for a single hero to bring audiences to theatres. So, Shahid is no exception. He can make it big once again if he gets a good film project," Mirani says. 

Director Ken Ghosh, who made Ishq Vishq and Fida, agrees. "Shahid has a long way to go. If he gets good films in a right budget he will make it big once again. He has many big banners with him for this year and I am sure he will do well," Ghosh says.

Among Shahid's forthcoming films are Sooraj Barjatiya's Vivaah, Abbas-Mustan's China Town, and a Priyadarshan [ Images ] film.