After the whole brouhaha about certain powerful Bollywood men making remarks about nepotism in general and Kangana Ranaut in particular, everyone and this son has been keen to ‘explain’ their side of the story. One of those involved, Saif Ali Khan has written a strangely garbled ‘open letter’ to explain his position, Bobby Deol has aired his grievance that no one, not even star kids have it easy in Bollywood and Rajinikanth’s daughter Soundarya has said that only talent matters. Let us examine how well these claims hold up to scrutiny:
He says that the film industry is a “democracy” and that nepotism can therefore not work here. He goes on to cite as examples, the success of people such as Shah Rukh Khan, Jackie Shroff, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit to illustrate that the industry is fair and offers an even playing field; much more so than politics or business. According to him, it is the audiences that make a film a hit and not family members.
Saif acknowledges that he got a chance because of his mother (star of yesteryears Sharmila Tagore) but he says that is genetics not nepotism. He claims that this was a producer making a ‘genetic investment’. It is rather bizarre how he expects such an explanation to absolve him of nepotism! He has indicated that ‘breeding’ is important; this is probably even more reprehensible!
For Bobby, the son of one of Bollywood’s most famous actors ever, Dharamendra and the brother of Sunny Deol, being an actor was perhaps an obvious choice. He was launched with much fanfare and enjoyed significant early success. When he says no one has it easy, he is probably referring to his later string of flops and his inability to carry a film on his own, without the support of father and brother.
Now which complete outsider gets a launch pad such as Bobby got with Barsaat and the A Grade publicity and promotion that the film received at the time? Which other actor, not being a star kid gets repeated chances at stardom in spite of giving flops? For instance which non-star-kid got the number of chances that someone like Abhishek Bachchan got? Even now, Bobby gets by starring in the odd film with his dad and brother and gets to call it a hit – the awful Yamla Pagla Deewana is a case in point; and this is solely because of his family connections. If Bobby thinks he had it hard, he is seriously delusional.
Superstar Rajinikanth’s daughter had these pearls of wisdom to offer: “if you have it in you, you are going to last irrespective of where you come from”. She has been a graphic designer in her father’s films and directed her brother in law Dhanush in a film. She implied that she got to where she is because of her own talent; that there is actually more pressure of expectation from star kids.
Sure talent matters and probably without talent, star kids will flounder. If star kids flop over time, this is because of their own spectacular lack of talent, yes. An outsider’s similar lack of talent would mean that they get nowhere near the sort of starring roles that star kids take for granted. The sort of grooming that star kids get practically from birth, the dream launch, the all important first break, repeated chances and the industry connections they grow up with… no outsider can hope to receive advantages that come anywhere close.
Sure a lot of star kids are talented. So are millions of other Indians. Many of them are supremely good looking (genetics at work, if Saif is to be believed). So are millions of other Indians. Many are extremely talented. Again, so are millions of other Indians, but they never get near a major production studio. Most star kids work very hard on their bodies, diction, acting skills and so on. So do other aspirants. For star kids this is far easier; they have experienced stars guiding them and paying for it all; no outsider, especially from a modest background has such advantages. Star kids do also have to work hard to remain relevant and successful. But no outsider gets repeated chances the way that a star kid does. It would be a good idea for star kids to acknowledge their privilege rather than deny something as glaring as the nose on their (admittedly good-looking) faces.
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