Quiz master Phanindra Ivatury of the Netherlands writes on the currently raging debate on nepotism in movie industries, weighing its pros and cons equally.
UTRECHT (The Netherlands), Oct 13 (Bernama) -- Being a quintessential Indian moviegoer who has lived long and seen enough of the “stardom” baton being passed on effortlessly to future generations, the nepotism debate in the film industry during my adolescent years was almost unheard of.
Capturing the zeitgeist of those times, the lobbies of movie theatres use to display stills from forthcoming films on bulletin board kind of wall mounts which often provided mini thrills to us young fans.
I can vividly recollect gushing over such stills from actor Sunny Deol’s debut movie “Betaab”(1983) with someone excitedly screaming from behind in Hindi “Yeh Dharmender ka beta hai” (He is actor Dharmendra’s son).
In the eighties, Indian film glossies use to fuel the curiosity factor about star kids and their prospective debuts by featuring extensive write-ups on them with their full blown pictures.
When an entrepreneur’s offspring chooses a familiar family career path, frenzied expectations from outside are almost zero.
For popular matinee idols, with all the trappings of fame, it gets near impossible for them to keep their personal lives divorced from the public eye. Also, the speculative pressure is unrelenting on their children to take up the same craft like that of their famed star parent(s).
The So Called ‘Haves’ and ‘Havenots’ Seeking Movie Careers:
In current times, the pros and cons of making it big in cinema can look varied but equally complex for both the nepo and non-nepo actor aspirants thereby challenging many myths.
For those star kids, who zero in on taking the acting plunge, they no doubt have a pedestal ready but from there on, they need to dive deep based on their own looks and talent to find the pearls of stardom, all the while carrying a heavy expectations baggage on their backs.
For the tens of thousands of non-nepo aspirants, the hunt for the right break is indeed a struggle where many go back empty handed but when that rare opportunity comes knocking the doors of those talented lucky few, aspirants can prove their mettle with no crazy sword of expectations hanging over their heads.
Also now, for all those “outsider-newcomers”, there are a plethora of aiding social media platforms like You Tube or Tik Tok available to initially showcase their talent and get noticed.
Celluloid history highlights numerous instances of actors who have come from nowhere and claimed spotlight.
‘Meritocracy’ or ‘Mediocrity’?
Though the complete existence of meritocracy in an actor who is a successor belonging to a filmy family is debatable, the success stories of some star kids stand as testimony to the fact that they were able to find and carve their own independent niche away from the halo of their heritage.
Hrithik Roshan from Bollywood or Dakota Johnson from Hollywood represent mini-sample size examples of star kids with shining careers.
The other side of the debate hinges on the movie career success of some “nepo-babies” (short term for “nepotism baby” popularised on social media in 2022), who seem to have made it big with sheer parental links inheriting a bevy of connections and knowledge know-how about the operative ways of the industry or how to land meaty movie roles.
Inherently Existed For Centuries:
“Nepotism” going by its very definition has inherently existed for centuries not just in the entertainment sphere but in any industry where position of power or influence is passed on as family business.
In current times, the “nepo” debate gains considerable steam in movie business as more and more aspirants and filmmakers seek a fair foothold on par with the star kids.
The “Kapoors” and South’s “Mega Tree”:
Prithvi Raj Kapoor, an Indian actor who is often regarded as one among the founding figures of Indian cinema, was the patriarch of the famous “Kapoor” clan of Bollywood. After him, the subsequent three generations efficaciously upheld the family’s silver screen dominance with storied careers.
In the very recent times, actor Agastya Nanda, who famously belongs to two of the most influential families of Bollywood (from the maternal/paternal sides respectively), extended the Kapoor bloodline into its fifth generation in movies through the titular role in his 2023 debut movie “The Archies”.
Agastya is the grandson to the great Amitabh Bachchan and also to Ritu Nanda who is the elder daughter of “Showman” Raj Kapoor.
From down south of India, Mega Star Chiranjeevi (the son of a police constable belonging to a non-filmy background) rides his perennial movie stardom like a colossus till date, also enabling en-route his brothers, sons of his sisters and also brother-in-law to branch out and thereby seek dazzling cine career success of their own.
A classic case of a non-nepo star providing nepo platform to his extended family.
‘It’s Family Business’:
The trending pan-Indian film culture has blurred cinematic regional divides, also enabling the “nepo” generations from across movie industries of the country to collaborate and sail smoothly.
Picture this! The lead star cast of the recent pan-Indian blockbuster “Devara” has NTR Jr as the protagonist, Saif Ali Khan as the antagonist and Janhvi Kapoor as the female lead, all three of them with an actor-parental lineage.
To quote Hollywood star Tom Hanks who recently described show-business as his family business, the acclaimed actor said “The thing that doesn’t change no matter what happens, no matter what your last name is, is whether it works or not”.
-- BERNAMA
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