JOIN USNepotism under scanner in Bollywood again
The success of 'Pathaan' is the perfect start for Bollywood this year. Yet, two facts are certain: one, there are a record number of star kids ready to make their debuts, and two, the industry needs hits galore to reverse its bad phase.
Newcomers, individually or in pairs, have been long accepted by the trade as the best alternatives to superstars for luring audiences to theatres. The fresh-face factor has worked often, especially when a newbie is of ‘nepotistic’ origin and is launched by his or her family, like it happened in 'Bobby', 'Love Story', 'Betaab', 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' and 'Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai'.
This year, Bollywood will witness an avalanche of such newcomers from film families. Agastya Nanda, Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson, Alizeh Agnihotri, Atul Agnihotri’s daughter and thus niece to both Salman Khan and Rati Agnihotri, Ibrahim Ali Khan, son of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan, Boney Kapoor’s daughter Khushi Kapoor and Rajesh Roshan’s daughter Pashmina, who is also Hrithik Roshan’s cousin, are ready to start their tinsel-town journey.
There are more! Like Shanaya Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor’s daughter, Suhana Khan, Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter and Zahaan Kapoor, grandson of Shashi Kapoor and actor Kunal Kapoor’s son, whose debut film, 'Faraaz', released on February 3.
We also have Shah Rukh’s son Aryan Khan writing and directing a web series for his home banner of Red Chillies Entertainment. And talking of the web, an OTT release is no longer infra-dig, as Agastya, Suhana and Khushi will all begin their careers with 'The Archies', a Zoya Akhtar film for Netflix.
So will these ‘in-house’ kids help boost the industry's fortunes in 2023? In the Hindi film industry, unlike in the South, nepotism has emerged as a dirty word for decidedly silly reasons. It entails, according to some, reduced opportunities to talented outsiders. The narrative gathered steam when Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide due to alleged depression rocked the industry in 2020. Bollywood bigwigs were slammed by people for sidelining and ill-treating Sushant. People blamed them for indirectly pushing Sushant to end his life.
The anti-nepotism brigade is against famous film personalities favouring those family members whose talent is questionable. That said, isn't it true that children are inspired by their parents' profession in almost every field?
Before the emergence of the word 'nepotism' in the industry, a top filmmaker had once told me, “If you are from a film background, you can be forgiven for a few flops or a patchy initial phase. An outsider facing the same situation isn't spared at all. But beyond that, the lines are blurred and only talent and the audience's opinion matter, as there is huge money at stake in this business.”
Rishi Kapoor had once expanded on how those from within the industry needed to prove themselves more than what people think. “We are judged on harsher parameters, including comparisons with our famous parents,” he had said.
Today, when you look at stars, there are rank outsiders like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Katrina Kaif making it huge in the profession. Sidharth Malhotra and Kriti Sanon are classic examples of youngsters from the next generation finding success in Bollywood.
In the past, we have had actors Hrithik Roshan, Kajol, Karisma and Kareena Kapoor (Khan), Amjad Khan, composer Anu Malik and writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar eclipsing their parents in the same field. On the contrary, among the others who emerged from film families, Athiya Shetty (Suniel Shetty’s daughter), Zayed Khan (Sanjay Khan’s son), Rinke Khanna (Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia’s daughter), Soha Ali Khan (Sharmila Tagore’s daughter) and Suniel Anand (Dev Anand’s son) failed to make a mark as actors.
Perhaps, the attempt from the industry should be to balance star kids with unheralded youngsters. For instance, 'The Archies', which involves the above mentioned star kids, also introduces four outsiders in Mihir Ahuja, Dot, Yuvraj Menda and Vedang Raina. That's the way to go for Bollywood.