Nepotism Hits An All-time Nauseating High Bollywood

 When  I am  asked  my  take on nepotism  in  the  Indian entertainment  industry my  answer is  simple. There  is  the plus, Ranbir Kapoor. And then  there is  the minus Armaan Kohli. And the twain shall not meet.

For every  member  of  the Kapoor family from  Rajiv to Armaan , who  has been rejected  there  is Kareena Kapoor.And if  the ever-gorgeous Sharmila Tagore’s son Saif made it, there is Saif’s sister Soha who is at best an  also-ran(married  to an also-ran).

What  is  really worrying is not the  nepotism in  the film families  but  the one from the outside. Those  who had no connection  to  the  industry have  toiled  for years  to get  the  success that they so craved are  now busy promoting  their  bhai-bandhu.

An actor acknowledged  as  one of  the  best who struggled  for 15 years before recognition knocked on his  door, has a brother  who looks after his  brother’s business and wants to make  films as well.

Well good for  you. Best of luck.  To us, I mean.

It is really ironical that  Kangana Ranaut who brought up the whole nepotism debate has her business and career being  looked after by  her sister. This arrangement  was arrived at  after  Kangana sacked her earlier manager on grounds  of inefficiency. But how efficient can a  star-sibling be? Govinda, another outsider to have  made it big  inBollywood,  found out the  hard way  that siblings can be an awful baggage to  carry around , when Govinda  pumped in  all his hard-earned into  his brother’s  dream project Radha Ka Sangam.

Like they say, one brother’s dream  is  another  another’s nightmare.  Let’s  hope  Nawazuddin’s brother  doesn’t blow up all  of  his star-brother’s savings  in making a film that would take  Nawaz  nowhere  except  to the laundry.

Why do enlightened  artistes who take  years to get  where they are,  make such a fool of themselves with their siblings? Anurag Kashyap’s brother had  followed  Kashyap into direction. But  nothing has been heard of  the  director’s brother’s  directorial dreams since the record-breaking  failure of the Kashyap sibling’s  Besharam. Besharam, indeed.

I  am  so glad  the selfmade Gwalior product  Kartik Aryan, the new flavour on  the  block, has no siblings who can follow him into the  film industry. We joke about this.And Kartik tells me without  a trace of irony. , “Akela tha akela joon, Akele rahunga.”.I  havea  sister and  she has no interest in  movies beyond the ones I  feature in.”

 It  is a sweet thought and one that  our self-made stars  should adhere  to.Why must Kangana depend on her sister to broadcast all her  complains  about ‘Being Kangana  Ranaut’ It’s not easy being a star-sibling, I know. The greatTanuja has spent a lifetime being  compared  with  the greater  Nutan.And Asha  Bhosle,  for  all her exquisite talent , could  never be Lata Mangeshkar. But  they both had  it in their genes.The talent, I  mean.

How can Nawazuddin’s brother  claim  to  be a filmmaker just because his brother has proved himself  a born actor ?Does  it follow that cinema is inherent in every  member of  the  Siddiqui family? Would we soon have  more members of  Nawaz’s  family  desirous  of cracking the  Bollywood code?

 In  that case, bring them on. Let’s see what they  have to offer.