Since a few years, the nepotism debate has been going on in the industry and while everyone is sympathetic towards outsiders facing a hard struggle before they make it big, they have also slammed star kids for being born in a film family. But is it their fault that life chose them to be born in a privileged home? Well, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death opened this can of worms again, where star kids have been slammed for no reason, bans on their films have been demanded for no reason, their hard work has been written off for no fault of theirs. Be it an Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan, Ishaan Khatter, Ananya Pandey or any other starkid, they have equally given their best to this industry just like a Kartik Aaryan, an Ayushmann Khurrana, a Kirti Sanon or a Siddhant Chaturvedi has.
While this debate has always been biased, what many have overlooked is that it wasn’t Karan Johar’s fault to be Yash Chopra’s son and so is the case with little Yash and Roohi too. In order to find out if these star kids are in the wrong to be born in a film family, we reached out to a senior journalist, author and ex-editor of Cineblitz and Stardust Magazine, Suguna Sundaram who told us, “Where one is born is not in one's hands. I do not think that star children should ever regret as wrong being born in a film family. If one can turn such a positive into a professional advantage, it has nothing to do with nepotism eventually. Only talent and public popularity will keep them in the limelight. On many levels, the judgment on them is unfairly based on their elders’ performances, and they have to work doubly hard to establish themselves and make their identity... ( take the case of Tiger Shroff and Abhishek Bachchan), no matter what the profession, people do use connections to get a foothold in any kind of job, corporate, creative, or entertainment.”
Further adding to this Filmfare Middle East’s Deputy Editor Akanksha Naval Shetye says, “Whether a star kid or not, it is unfair to blame your environment or the family you are born into. With the talk of nepotism, star kids may feel targeted, but it's just a part and parcel of who they are. With the privileges come to these kinds of questions and pressures too, but they have to take it in their stride. Both the star kids and non-film family aspirants have their own set of struggles, and though they may vary by degrees, the hard work and talent is non-negotiable in the long run. They may think it looks like a factor that works against them, but the fact is that all said and done, they do have privileges that non-industry kids don't. But star kids can't be blamed or held at fault for it. It is best for the star kids to accept it gracefully.”
Gone are the days, when Bollywood didn’t open its doors for outsiders, today while we see talent being the yardstick, there are many non-filmy background actors who have made a name for themselves. Be it a Radhika Madan, a Vikrant Massey, a Nawazuddin Siddiqui, a Kartik Aaryan, a Huma Qureshi, a Kriti Sanon, a Kangana Ranaut the rules of stardom has been the same for all and it’s been decided by the audience. Then why play this blame-game of who has an upper hand?
Written by Nawaz Kochra