After a spate of star children, it is time for star siblings to make their mark. This week's release Ek Aur Ek Gyarah saw Amrita Arora, younger sister of veejay-turned-actress Malaika Arora in the lead.

Aishwarya Rai has already launched her brother Aditya as a producer in Dil Ka Rishta. Manisha Koirala's brother Siddharth, who made an attempt at stardom three years ago, will be re-launched by his sister in Raja Dil Ka Ghulam. This film will be produced by Koirala under her newly established banner, Moving Images. Koirala also wants her brother's film to be premiered at the Cannes festival.

Not to be left behind is Amisha Patel's brother Asmit, who will be launched by 'good friend' Vikram Bhatt in Inteha, a thriller with two new leading ladies.

Refuting claims of star favouritism, Bhatt says, "I see nothing wrong with Amisha's brother trying to be a star. Everyone is entitled to reach for the stars. Asmit is talented. I made him assist me on the sets of my film Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage for a year before he faced the camera."

Kajol's sister Tanisha is also expected to make her debut this year. It remains to be seen whether she is as successful as her elder sister. Their mother Tanuja could not reach the immortal heights of their aunt Nutan.

In fact, only some siblings have scaled the steps of stardom successfully, like Sunny and Bobby Deol, Karisma and Kareena Kapoor, Farha and Tabu, Akshaye and Rahul Khanna and, to a lesser extent, Shilpa and Namrata Shirodkar.

Other star siblings, like Sunil Dutt's brother Som Dutt (who starred in Sunil Dutt's Man Ka Meet four decades ago), Dimple Kapadia's sister Simple (who starred with brother-in-law Rajesh Khanna in Shakti Samanta's Anurodh in the 1970s), Aamir Khan's brother Faizal (who co-starred with Aamir in Dharamesh Darshan's Mela), Dara Singh's brother Randhawa, and Anupam Kher's brother Raju have failed to make a mark.

Salman Khan's brothers Arbaaz and Sohail and Anil Kapoor's brother Sanjay have still not made a substantial impact. Shilpa Shetty's sister Shamita made her debut in Yash Chopra's Mohabbatein ('I have not done a Yash Chopra film till date,' the doting didi says enviously). But in spite of a head start, the younger Shetty girl is yet to find her bearings in Bollywood.

"It's almost as though the film industry can only accommodate one star from a family. Asha Bhosle has almost made it to the same legendary heights as her invincible sister Lata Mangeshkar. But that's it. Anu Malik's brother Daboo Malik is groping in the dark to make a name," says filmmaker Suneel Darshan whose brother Dharamesh is a rare example of a sibling discovering success in the cluttered milieu of showbiz.