NEPOTISM

Nepotism, Interesting word right? If this word hadn’t gained prominence in this decade, we wouldn’t even know such word even existed; I speak on behalf of the average Indian having limited vocabulary. It literally means favoring one’s own kith and Kin or in other words giving star kids a head start. The sudden and scandalous demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14 has left us in a state of utter shock and disbelief; it also brought back decade old debate on NEPOTISM because it is suspected to be one of the major reasons for Sushant’s depression.

It is no secret that children of big stars in Bollywood get their easy way into the industry and get projects easily despite average performance while an outsider has to struggle a lot just to enter. As many have stated that industry is run by few clans. This has resulted in dreams crushing and depression among outsiders, only those who survive this phase go on to make it count.

Many have come forward from Bollywood itself to speak on nepotism. Firstly, Kangana Ranaut; who has been fighting against nepotism for a long time has made several allegations against big names in Bollywood, she explained how toxic industry is and how nepotism and blind journalism were the reasons behind Sushant’s depression (See here) another famous Tollywood actor Prakash Raj opened about how he was also affected by nepotism and how he survived but Sushant could not (See here) many more actors, directors and those part of industry have spoken on the matter. (link)

• Who is to blame?

 We as an audience are the ones responsible, audiences are the King makers and we should be sensible enough as to who deserves it, who does not. Star kids only aren’t responsible since they also have to face criticism more than an outsider simply because greater things are expected from them. So to completely blame them is wrong. Even many of them acknowledge that they are products of nepotism such as Ranbir kapoor (see here) ,Ananya Pandey, Sonam Kapoor and many more. So the star families, again not completely as preserving and favoring their own are human tendencies. Well here we would go with wise words of Sushant himself

“Nepotism is there and everywhere, not just in Bollywood. You can’t do anything about it. Nepotism can co-exist and nothing would happen but at the same time if you deliberately don’t allow the right talents to come up, then there is a problem. Then the whole structure of the industry would collapse one day…”

• DOES NEPOTISM EXIST ONLY IN BOLLYWOOD?

If you think nepotism exists in Bollywood only, then let me throw some light on your face as well as some facts. It also exists in a place where expressing your opinion whether it’s valid or not is not important, I’m talking about Indian Politics. Indian politics from 1950s have seen prominent political leaders bringing forward their sons and daughters in politics giving them a big advantage over the fresh faces in Indian polity. Irrespective of the fact that they really possess the urge to help the people as a whole. I can give you many Father-Son/Daughters, Mother-Son/Daughter duos which have been ruling this great country. The easiest example to explain is of a Mother-Son duo the son being a sought after political leader and was even envisioned as our future Prime Minister, he is still regarded as a young leader but just for the sake of info he turned 50 this year, but still full of youthful exuberance. Anyways, point being Bollywood is not the only place where nepotism exists, but it’s the only place it’s talked about.

Bollywood has some flag bearers of Nepotism as well as many soldiers fighting for the right place they deserve, how successful their attempts will be only time will tell. Indians have not been able to come to terms with a Chinese boycott even if it is in the interest of the country, only future will tell how long star kids boycott will hold good..

                               

-ANUJ GHATATE