Why is Nepotism in Bollywood not about talent?

Image: firstpost.com

The discussion of Nepotism in Bollywood has been a hot and controversial topic for a while. It has created a mass of people hating star kids, their performances and the involvement in the cinema business. The argument by the ..outsiders.. is that nepotism and favouritism has killed the talent and art in cinema making, mostly acting. But if we look at it in a broad manner, especially from a foreign country with no attachment yet a good following, the picture seems different. It might sound harsh, but the public unconsciously hates the western influenced, dumb and rarely relatable lifestyle and stories of the star kids.

First of all, let's go by the book and see what nepotism is. It is the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs, in Bollywood, movie offers. According to Indian Express the conversation around nepotism was first ignited by Kangna Ranaut on Karan Johar’s chat show Koffee with Karan in 2017. While Ranaut clearly was using the debate to climb some ladders, it ignited a fire which hit the house after the demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. 

The argument from the anti-nepotism twetterians and journalists is that star kids are silver spoon fed, get more opportunities than a newcomer. First of all, this is a very old and rusty argument and the rise of actors like Ranvir Singh, Aayushman Khurana and Rajkumar Rao is only proving otherwise. Someone will counter this argument publicly very soon( sooner if the Modi government falls). Second, there were star kids in the past as well, tollywood has a big number of star kids and relatives acting for decades and not much of an argument has yet taken place. So, why only bollywood ?

Bollywood audiences are against nepotism not because the art or the essence of the movies is being lost. Rom Coms and action movies are still the highest earning ones. So, what is it?  The audience are just fed up with the dumb comments by these kids in public interview. While this fueled up by the interview by Alia Bhatt in 2014, Sonam Kapoor, Annanya Pandey and other actors are only adding fuel. Another reason is the unmeaningful movie choice, for example Varun Dhawan. While the actor did tremendously good job in movies like Badlapur and October, his image is set by the movies like Dhishoom and Me Tera Hero. This creates a persona among the public that the actor is lazy and uses his fame to sell unproductive scripts. While the audience clearly enjoyed the movies, they show the double standards on the internet. 

Shara Ali Khan was liked by millions even before her movie dropped in the theater. The history major from UK university presents herself in a grand and intellectual manner while maintaining the childishness. Her public appearance and movie choices have never put her in the center of the discussion. 

Another very interesting example is Ranbir Kapoor. The actor has done some exceptional acting in movies like Tamasha, Barfi and Rocket Singh. He is therefore considered to be a good outcome of Nepotism. People don't show as much hate to the actor as they do to Alia, Varun, Annanya and some other actors. While Kapoor is largely known to work on movies with congruent roles of bad and careless boy turned good lover, due to his funny, shy and intellectual(arguable) public appearance, he is accepted by the public. 

This observation concludes that, if the actors were to make interesting and bold public appearances, make some sarcastic comments now and again, show some sense of humor and intelligence, there is no way they wouldn't be liked. My guess is, the new generation of star kids, especially the much awaited SRK kids and other young ones will be cautious and actually change the discussion of nepotism, mainly because there is no way people will stop loving these kids, The Prince/ss is sometimes even more liked than the King. This is human nature.

Thoughts are personal and observation based, not permitted for official use.