This month’s winner will be Aamir Khan. If Lal Singh Chaddha sinks at the counters, “Blame it on the boycott call.” If it does swimmingly well, “We did it despite the boycott.” Either way, he wins.

But, in the zero marks report card of the biggies this year, Alia Bhatt has genuinely triumphed. Apart from a beautifully managed marriage, a Hollywood debut with Gal Gadot and the much-anticipated visit from the stork, Darlings, her first professional baby, marks her as a mature producer.

“I’m happy she’s using her star equity to back new talent and tell a relevant story,” Mahesh Bhatt beamed. A backroom fact is that Darlings was the first step Alia took with her father’s backing, after this branch of the family broke away from Mukesh Bhatt.

Ranbir Kapoor hasn’t matched Alia’s performance so far — Shamshera didn’t even fetch an opening worthy of a big-ticket star. But lost in the din of all these huge losses is an unanswered question: what in the world does Aditya Chopra see in Vaani Kapoor?

Nine years ago, Aditya had launched Vaani in Shuddh Desi Romance. The film did well but Vaani didn’t sizzle. Since then, she’s been a constant YRF heroine, cast by her mentor even in Aaha Kalyanam, the Tamil version of Band Baaja Baaraat, and then in the smooch-strewn box-office bomb, Befikre, which Aditya himself directed. From Sushant Singh Rajput and Ranveer Singh to Hrithik Roshan (War) and Ranbir Kapoor (Shamshera), Aditya has presented her with a platter of heroes. She’s also had two non-YRF outings, with Akshay Kumar (Bell Bottom) and Aayushmann Khurrana (Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui), both commercial failures.

After all these opportunities, the question remains, what does Adi see in her? Clearly, Vaani is neither a stunner nor a Ms Twinkle Toes in the Aishwarya Rai-Madhuri Dixit mould. In fact, most feel she was a good fit in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui because she doesn’t have the natural feminine elegance of most heroines. Nor is she an easy performer like Kajol or Alia. Vaani’s hard work shows on the screen. Perhaps dedicated professionalism too but that cannot be a substitute for all the qualities required to make a top Hindi film heroine.

But try telling Adi, whose fancy for Vaani has become a bit of a joke. How does wife Rani take it?

Rani revels in being the queen of YRF. Even her brother has a foot in the studio. Rani rules over her own little empire. It’s a set-up quite unique. Adi’s mom Pam, who’s wheelchair-bound, lives by herself in the Juhu bungalow husband Yash Chopra built for her, with second son Uday swinging between Mumbai and the US. Pam and her bungalow are looked after by Adi’s ex-wife Payal, who lives close by in her own apartment after the divorce. Payal is like the daughter Pam never had and Rani’s fine with the arrangement.

Rani and Adi always lived on their own, moving out of his apartment to her bungalow bang opposite. So right now, it is in Rani’s beautifully done up and well-run bungalow that Adi lives with their daughter Adira. Everything’s so hush-hush that little Adira is even being home-schooled, so exclusive is their existence. There’s no room here for Rani to nurse any insecurity over any of her husband’s professional obsessions.

This, of course, is not the first time that a film producer has bashed on regardless with a heroine. Decades ago, Chetan Anand had stuck with Priya Rajvansh. After her debut in Haqeeqat (1964), it was only Chetan who cast her in movie after movie including cult films like Heer Ranjha (1970), in which the entire dialogue was in Kaifi Azmi’s verse. But Priya never made the cut as a Grade 1 actress.

Ram Gopal Varma once had a bet with me that he’d make Antara Mali, his fancy at that time, as big a success as his earlier accomplishment, Urmila Matondkar. Once considered a failed actress, Ramu had groomed, polished and presented Urmila with much oomph in Rangeela. But he could never repeat that feat with Antara.

Will Adi succeed with Vaani?

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author