Since the last couple of months, twitteratis have been debating almost every day on the topic of Nepotism. Since the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, there is not a single day, when star kids are criticised online by the audience.
The first time the Nepotism debate started when, Kangana Ranaut called Karan Johar, the flag bearer of Nepotismon his show Koffee with Karan. That is the first time, when there was an open debate about talent Vs. Neptotism. Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, Ekta Kapoor literally run the Bollywood industry and therefore most of the times, cast their own family and friends in their movies.
The Bollywood industry, which may look glamourous and appealing on the front, but also has a lot of pit falls and shady secrets buried deep under itself. Drugs, Bollywood, Underworld, Politics,Casting Couch, Mistrust, Prostitution, everything goes hand in hand, these are some of the open secrets, which almost everyone knows, but there has never been any concrete proof to talk about the same.
Nepotism exist in every field, but then why is it that people are talking only about bollywood and now in politics. Nepotism exist in Business, in Professional fields such as Law, Medicine, CA’s etc. The only difference being, if you are not talented enough to survive on your own and you do not have enough talent, then even Nepotism will not help you. Initially clients may come to you because you are XYZ’s child but if you cannot help them get what they want, then even your family’s reference won’t help you at all.
Unfortunately, in the film industry, the competition is tough and it is clearly visible. You need to be a born artist, who is trained well to be a good entertainer. When a product of Nepotism comes in front of you, you may go to see their movie for the first time because, they are related to your favourite actors, but then they barely manage to entertain you. Yet you are forced to see them again and again on the screen. A lot of times, we often miss good actors, because the media always highlights star kids. They are in limelight sometimes, even before they are born.
There was a huge debate, when Shah RukhKhan’s daughter, Suhana Khan, was on the front page of the Vogue Magazine. People questioned her achievement apart from being SRK’s daughter to be on the front page of the magazine. True, millions of girls, who are more talented than Suhana, struggle to be on the front page, yet they are barely noticed. The reason why SRK’s daughter is on the front page is because the name and the credibility of her father, will attract more audience than probably the achievements of the most talented actors. Magazines earn their revenues on the basis of maximum sales and everyone is in the business to earn afterall.
Many a times, star kids are randomly cast in movies, even if they don’t fit into the role. The Latest example being Sridevi’s Daughter, Jhanvi Kapoor cast as Gunjan Saxena. When you are an actor, you need a personality, that is strong. Somehow, even the trailor of the movie did not convince me to go and watch the movie. Being a lawyer, I have met a lot of rock solid women in my life. One of the USP of a Defense Force Personnel or any member of their family is their confident personality. Their body language is entirely different. Not a single slouch, strong eye contact, confidence, clear communication. Every single one of these qualities was clearly missing in her.
May be she is only a few films old and has to learn a lot, but still there were a lot of talented actresses, who could have easily played that role. A few days ago I did pen down an article on Sridevi but she was an actor par excellence. I do not want to compare the mother and daughter as the daughter is yet to prove herself. If a normal actor would have to get a Biopic, it would atleast take him 5 movies to prove himself but when you are a star kid, you get a Biopic easily.
There was a time, when big names would attract people to the theaters, but today through web-series, people have good access to quality and realistic content. So they are rarely interested in going to the theaters. The other trick that most film makers use is, to cast the star kids in multi starer movies. The most recent example being Pati Patni aur Woh, wherein Ananya Pandey a star kid is cast along with Kartik Aryan and Bhumi Pednekar. So that the audience cannot boycott the movie because of a star kid.
The problem with Bollywood and Nepotism is that people idolise Politicians and Bollywood actors. Their visibility to general audience is much more than compared to other professionals. Probably, art is loosing its form and visibility because we are unable to promote genuine talent.
It is sad, that we miserably failed to appreciate a talented individual like Sushant Singh Rajput, during his lifetime, because we were busy admiring the joker star kids. Following their every footsteps.
Recently, Kareena Kapoor gave a realistic statement on Nepotism, though initially I also found the statement very blunt and rude, but today I agree with her on the same. It is us, the audience, who have made these star kids, who they are. They never forced us to watch their movie, it was us, who went running to spend our hard earned money on watching their movies. Her statement was like an eye opener and therefore the audience decided to boycott all movies which feature star kids.
One of the reasons a lot of big Production houses, invest in a star kids is because they are a safe bet. Being a star kid itself gives you sufficient publicity. Added to the same a lot of big Celebrities compensate to the producers in case their children’s film fail at the box office. Whereas, if they take a fresh face, no matter, how much amount of talent, he or she has, if the society fails to recognise the talent, it is a big financial blow to the Production Houses.
The recent incidence of the number of dislikes on the trailer of the movie Sadak2, has really shown the Bollywood industry, the power of audience. The movie trailer at present is the third highest disliked video on YouTube.
It is totally upon us, if we want to see Nepotism in every field. If we learn to appreciate talent instead of a ready made platter that is presented in front of us. We cannot later on blame Nepotism. There is no harm in a child selecting the same profession as its parents. Infact, as a parent I will be happy if my child wishes to select the same profession as mine. I will lend both of them every support that I can but simultaneously, they need to survive and grow in the industry on their own.
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