Bollywood has often been accused of giving easy launch pads to nepo-kids, however, the last one month has witnessed close to a dozen film debuts of outsiders, with six launches that happened this Friday and one more set to hit the screens coming the next one.
As a producer, Alia Bhatt gave the launch pad to Aarushi Bajaj, Ansh Duggal, Bianca Arora and Piyush Khati. While Ansh had done a few music videos before and Piyush was seen in the web series Class, they all made their film debuts with Don’t Be Shy. This Friday, Luv Ranjan backed the buddy comedy-drama Pehla Pyaar Doosri Baar which sees six fresh faces – Sparsh Walia, Alisha Chopra, Kunal Vaid, Sakshi Vaidya, Tushar Chhibber and Sargun Kaur Luthra. The coming Friday will see the much-delayed release of Nakhrewaalli, which was supposed to be Ansh’s debut vehicle alongside another debutante, Pragati Nagpal.
The ‘nepotism’ products
While the accusation of the Hindi film industry being more favourable to star kids has been a constant, especially in recent years, trade analyst Taran Adarsh insists that Bollywood isn’t a sole case. “Nepotism doesn’t exist only in the Hindi film industry, it’s just a tag used in the popular media. There is nepotism in the South too, but the media doesn’t write so aggressively about it, and similarly in the world of cricket and politics too,” he says.
However, in recent years, star kids like Ibrahim Ali Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Junaid Khan, Shanaya Kapoor, among others, have had an underwhelming foray into the acting world. Has the audience reception also turned filmmakers towards more outside talent? “We have had names from within the industry, as well as from the outside, who have had successful and also failed debuts. It’s purely on the basis of your talent and merit that the audience likes you,” says Akkshay Rathie, Director, Ashirwad Theatres Pvt Ltd. Adarsh says, “A film works because of content, and wherever the actors come from, it all eventually falls into place.”
New faces need big backing
Taran Adarsh says that more than anything, fresh talent is the need of the hour. “We need outside talent, and it’s a great idea to bring in newcomers. We need new faces, and it doesn’t depend whether they come from a film family or from the outside,” he shares.
Akkshay Rathie insists that while new faces are needed, it’s necessary to have credible names back them. “Filmmakers who have the credibility and clout on their own merits at the box office, should launch more talent and then encash on them over the years. The current order of stars, and we have only a handful of them, can only do a certain number of movies a year. But we make so many more movies, so we need more bankable names. The only way you can nurture such talents is if established filmmakers back them. They need this backing to become big stars,” he says.
