Nepotism, thou art bad ?
Cinema and arts - the world of glamour. Once SUCCESSFUL, you can enjoy the status of God.
Kindly note that I have highlighted the term 'successful'. Even if I decide to use a font size of 50, the weight of the word will still be understated. Most of us would've imagined delivering a speech, wearing a flashy dress, in front of an audience filled with 'eminent' personalities, after receiving an award for the best actor or actress. Life in the movie industry is arduous. One misstep can derail your entire career.
Wait a minute..one failure can derail a career? But...what about the kids of movie stars? They're being given numerous occasions despite their film bombing at the box office. Life is unfair for outsiders. Nepotism is ruining the film industry, whether it be Bollywood, Kollywood, or Mollywood.
Voila, folks! Nepotism is in the limelight AGAIN, thanks to the seizing of the opportunity by the OUTSPOKEN outsiders of Bollywood. Producers like Karan Johar and the supposed benefactors of nepotism like Alia Bhat is incurring the sudden wrath of the audience and the outside gang. The Twitterati is busy with hashtags. I don't think Hitler and Stalin were the victims of a campaign of this magnitude (hyperbole). Multiple news articles even dared to state that Shushant Singh Rajput was depressed because of the 'outside' treatment he received from several Bollywood 'stars', without the slightest shred of credible evidence. Listen, the case may have been so. However, it remains a conspiracy theory unless you provide FACTS to support your claim.
Let us explore the 'evil' that is nepotism, shall we? Trust me, this is going to be a rough ride.
Nepotism can be loosely considered as the favoritism shown by an individual during appointments. The term's origin can be traced back to the late 15th century, where Sixtus IV was accused of granting favors to his nephews. The person of authority showed considerable bias and overlooked those that were more talented than his nephews.
Let us step back a minute and retrospect. Haven't we all acted with bias at some point? Isn't showing favoritism an inherent aspect of being a human? Simple example. Consider the case of corporate hiring. There is a fascinating study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and MIT, wherein it is was found that a referral from an existing employee increased your hiring chances by almost 40%, as compared to the other candidates. We all must have referred a friend or relative of our at least once. In an ideal world, shouldn't we be looking at his or her qualifications first, compare the same with others with a relatively similar experience or skill, and then forward their resume to the HR team? Yes, if you're going by what is ethically, professionally, and morally right, you should be referring them only if they are the most qualified for the job. However, how often does this happen? I would even cross the boundaries and state that the probability of such an occurrence is less than the writer of this piece winning a dance competition ( PS: My dancing skills are worse than a donkey's).
Now, let us return to Bollywood. I would be calling my close friend, Mr. Economics, to help me make my case though. Bollywood is a business. I am sure that we are in agreement here. People invest money to get returns. Capitalism (not in its purest form though), meet Bollywood. Consider the case of Student of the Year, which came out in 2012. The film had a budget of Rs. 59 crores. The production houses involved were Dharma Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment, which is owned by Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan, respectively. It starred Varun Dhawan (son of industry veteran David Dhawan), Alia Bhatt ( daughter of director, producer, and screenwriter Mahesh Bhatt), and Sidharth Malhotra in the lead roles. Dharma Productions has been notoriously tagged as the provider of platforms for the propulsion to stardom for the children of many of Bollywood's leading names. Basically, Karan likes to be the one to extend a helping hand to his friend's kids. Apparently, everyone hates him for that. Here come Economics and Business Management 101 - the return of investment. Student of the Year had a box office collection of around Rs. 100 crore. Well, the producers almost received twice the amount they spend on film production. An excellent investment I would say. I wish my stocks doubled in such a short time.
Karan, being a businessman, had a successful return of investment. Imagine this scenario. Karan is talking to Mahesh Bhatt. He discusses the script, but he hasn't decided whom to cast yet. Mahesh Bhatt, being a concerned father, proposes Karan to cast his daughter, Alia, who hasn't debuted in Bollywood yet. Similar conversations took place with David Dhawan. In the end, Alia and Dhawan are finalized for the lead roles, without an audition. Karan is impressed. His senses are tickled. He markets the film as 'Welcoming the next stars of Bollywood, Varun and Alia, the son of David, and the daughter of Mahesh, respectively'. Karan knows that the audience will fall for the hype. It is a tried and tested method for success. At the end of the day, Karan is right, again. The film does well, even though some would argue whether it can be classified as a movie. The acting, script, cinematography, dialogue delivery, etc. were in shambles. There were much more talented people than Alia and Varun.
Now my question, why on Earth would Karan care? In fact, why should he care? Who came up with the golden rule that you must hire actors only based on their talent, with PROPER auditions? It isn't an examination. You cannot quantify talent. Unlike industries with well-defined and universally accepted performance matrices such as sports, the film industry cannot provide quantifiable insights for judging talent. In cricket, for instance, if you are score consecutive ducks or concede 30 runs in 12 balls, it can be universally accepted that as a player, your performance is abysmal, to say the least. Sure, you can refer to the box office returns. However, a film that tanked among the critics' ratings, Dhoom 3, earned around Rs. 589.2 crores, with an investment of Rs. 125 crore. The film, therefore, is a success, right? You can be the judge.
Let us now try to examine where the fault lies.
- Culprit number 1 - Karan Johar. Is he truly to be blamed for not hiring more talented actors for the roles, and preferring the kids of his friends or well-known stars? Hardly. Karan, being a businessman, made the sagacious decision to pick these youngsters as they would ensure returns for his investment. Has Karan assured that he would hire only based on talent? Is he obligated to the film industry to do so? His money, his choice. You can't be mad at Mr. Mukesh Ambani for choosing his son as the Chairman of Reliance, even though there may be others who are more deserving than him. Personal choices.
- Culprit number 2 - Mahesh Bhatt and David Dhawan - Being prosperous in Bollywood, they wanted to secure their kid's future by caressing them into the world of cinema. It may have been forceful. I do not know. However, as parents, wouldn't you want what is best for YOUR kid? Or, would you pass on the opportunity to a highly talented individual who hasn't made a name for him or herself in Bollywood yet? It is widely agreed that being launched by a big name such as Karan increases the chances of success. Again, you can decide.
- Culprit number 3- Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan - You grew up amongst the Bollywood elite. Your birthdays had more supercars parked in your lawn than the Delhi car expo. You dreamed of stardom. You were told that you would make big. Finally, you grew up, and you are ready to step into the world of cinema and make a name for yourself. The chance arrives in the form of Student of the Year, being produced by two of the biggest names in Bollywood. Again, would you pass on the opportunity for an actor who is more talented than you? Remember, you have been constantly bombarded with the notion that you are meant to be a movie star since childhood. Where has it been stated that just because you are the son or daughter of an actor, you cannot star in the movies? Or, rather, you should spend a couple of years in exile, and audition like everyone else?
- Culprit number 4 - Ourselves! Wait, me? How? How dare you point the fingers at me? It was Karan's fault. It was Mahesh's fault. It was Alia's and Varun's fault. Not mine.
Okay, let us come down from the top floor of the Moral Highground Palace. How did the films generate revenue? How did these people make a profit? Our ticket money and satellite rights, isn't it?
We wanted to see how our favorite actor's wards perform. We wanted to support them. Hence, it was our choice to spend on tickets. The aforementioned culprits didn't hold us at gunpoint and ordered us to purchase the tickets.
To promote talent in the industry, we must be open to welcoming new actors and watch movies that are not in the mainstream news yet. How to find them? Well, experimentation, I guess? At the end of the day, the fact remains that if you have mentors that provide valuable insights and promote your growth, you have an advantage over the others. Everyone isn't at ground zero. You can strive for equality. But, it is akin to trying to etch your name on a beach. The balance is never attained. We all have biases. We want to help those inside our 'caring circle'. You cannot tell me what I should or shouldn't do with my money.
For the next IPL, I may field a team filled with 11 of my best friends. Their cricketing skills may be as creative as my dancing skills or maybe as proficient as Prabhu Deva's. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me. They might lose by 10 wickets, or by 300 runs. Nonetheless, it was my choice to field them. My money, my decision. I do not owe anything to the cricketing Gods nor the audience. You can CHOOSE to boycott my team since they weren't selected on merit. But, kindly remember, I have my reasons for choosing this particular squad.
A considerable share of the detractors of nepotism would also be the ones who have crushes on Alia Bhatt, Sarah Ali Khan, Varun Dhawan, and Ananya Pandey, and lose their mind when they are the chief guests at your cultural fests. If we care so much about nepotism, why not boycott the Bollywood flops and go only with self-made stars like Siddhart, Karthik Aryan, etc. ? Venting out our frustration against the elite by unfollowing them on Instagram won't be even remotely helpful. Unless the evidence suggests that these kids were responsible for the deceased actor's depression, what exactly is the reason for a hate campaign of this magnitude? Quite beyond my grip on the topic, I am afraid.
Mr. Economics also explains the relation between supply and demand. As long as there is demand, the manufacturers will try to increase the supply to make more profits. Similarly, as long as we are worshipping film stars and their kids, the producers will cast the latter to increase their revenue. Nobody can blame them. They are not accountable to the public. Several producers are bringing out talented individuals. Actors like Nawazuddin Siddique, Siddhart Tripathi, and Shahrukh Khan are prime examples of those. The kids of Bollywood stars will obviously be getting more roles even if they star in multiple flops precisely due to this reason. However, this doesn't mean that we should completely stop watching their movies altogether. The point is, along with those movies, we can promote upcoming talents in the industry. In the words of Sushant, nepotism can co-exist with outside talent. Nepotism isn't all that bad once you think about it. Alia Bhatt is among the finest actors in Bollywood at the moment. The fact that they get more opportunities isn't a reason to warrant hate.
Therefore, dear outsider brigade, and their fellow fans - Please stop leveraging an actor's death to push your agenda further. Nobody is stopping you from crowdfunding a movie and casting talents of YOUR CHOICE. OTT platforms such as Netflix have drastically reduced the power of mainstream movie theatres, at least in the developed cities.
Nepotism is present in every aspect of our lives. And it will continue to do so. Unless it is being promoted by a public authority such as the BCCI or the political parties, should we really be concerned? More importantly, is there any point in being concerned, rather than to add fuel to our insecurity jealousy? Award ceremonies mean nothing. Even a first-grade student knows that they are rigged. The state awards and the national awards are the ones that should matter. Awards are given to those who are the 'bigger stars' and generate more ad revenue. A story that is headlined ' Ananya Pandey wins the Best Debutant Award' will have more clicks than ' XYZ wins the Best Debutant Award'. Media gimmicks, nothing more. Getting cast without influence is hard, agreed. Still, it is not much different from other activities that all of us indulge in. It is a high risk, high reward profession. Some start ahead of you. However, grumbling about it doesn't help, since that is the REALITY of LIFE.
To the upcoming actors. If you are truly talented, meant to be a star, and have the conviction for it, I believe that you're the only one who can stop that. You may not start off at the same level as the celeb kids. However, that doesn't mean you won't surpass their achievements in the future.
Cut off the head of the demand, the supply will automatically fall, says my smart friend, Mr. Economics.
With all that said, Rest in Peace Sushant, you will be dearly missed.
Another vantage point.
ReplyDeleteBut I will beg to differ on some of it.
Great thought
ReplyDelete