Cinema should be more of talent than the name.

Khevna.P.Shah, INN/Bangalore

@Shahkhevna1, @Infodeaofficial

Nepotism has been a burning topic in the Bollywood industry since the beginning and has refloated again after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. The entire industry has got divided into two while talking about nepotism.  “Nepotism exists everywhere. An industrialist’s son will push his son to be an industrialist. If my son is talented and he wants to be an actor, then I’d launch him into a film. But ultimately, it’s your talent which counts.” said Asyushmann Khurrana in one of the interviews.

Ultimately it all comes down to talent, doesn’t it? Cinema has to be only accounted for a good storyline, for its cinematography and music, it doesn’t matter which ‘name’ plays the role, cause it all depends on how well that actor brings out the character. It is the character played that brings an actor under the limelight and not the other way around. The actor is appreciated for his talent, dedication, and commitment towards the film. Khurrana also commented  “Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, and Ranbir Kapoor are talented. They are not getting films just because they are star kids.

There are instances in the industry that nepotism has back-fired as well. The star kids have failed to meet the expectations that were set by the previous generation. Abishek Bachchan, being the son of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, has failed to mark this position in the industry, despite his goof acting. Akshaye Khanna, son of Vinod Khanna, gave us memorable performances in movies like ‘Humagama’, ‘Mere Baap Phele Aap’, ‘Dil Chahta Hain’, ‘Hulchul’, etc is almost erased from the industry.

Among the heating debate of Netopism, the media often leaves behind the ‘outsider’, who has done a fantastic job in the industry without any connection or whatsoever. Some claim it is difficult for the outsider to set their mark in the industry, but often forget that the star kids also don’t get everything handed over to them, in order to be successful they should prove their worth. When Sara Ali Khan was questioned about her special privileges in Bollywood, she replied,“ She said that being an insider gives you easy access to the main line like she can walk into Rohit Shetty’s office and ask him to consider her for ‘Simmba’. However, at the same time, she said that despite the easy access, if you are not good at what you do, survival would not be easy”.

As the famous phrase goes, ‘every coin has two side’, even Nepotism in the industry has two sides. The efforts of the star kids sometimes go unrecognized and simply termed as nepotism. There are definitely good products of nepotism, but this shouldn’t be the reason why the outsiders are being unnoticed by the industry and the people. Surviving also plays a pivotal role in the industry, and its the actors talents and his dedication that plays the key role in the survival.

It is no lie that nepotistic culture within the movie industry has hindered the skilled growth of unnumerable gifted people who had dreamt of establishing a reputation for themselves. In opposition, some might say that a director or producer has the right to decide on whom they work with. However, the matter arises once cartels are fashioned to steal truthful opportunities from the meritable. it’s a known secret that actors with pure talent are side-lined as relatives and favourites are given additional priority. though there’s no guarantee that every one star-kids are gifted, most of them are offered special  opportunities, high budget films, and bigger project on a silver platter.

 The paparazzi and tabloids are busy focusing on Superstars’ children who have not (yet) set foot in the industry, they fail to capture the struggles and accomplishments of self-made stars. But some say that media houses cannot be blamed as they are delivering what is widely demanded by the audience. Most of the Indian audience has an appetite for top-notch content. They would prefer to invest their money and time into movies with a clichéd story line over movies that have unique and better scripts because they are enacted by artists without a branded last name. Hence, the audience are to be equally blamed.