Kangana Ranaut has a point; star kids do benefit. But eventually, talent counts
The dust thrown up by the verbal spat between actors Kangana Ranaut and Saif Ali Khan over nepotism in the Hindi film industry may have settled down, but the issue raised remains relevant. Just how much is the film industry driven by dynastyIJ More important, does nepotism adversely impact the chances of those who do not have a family name to back themIJ Ranaut, who has by now built a reputation for speaking her mind out on contentious issues, had remarked in a television chat show anchored by film-maker Karan Johar that star children enjoyed privileges by virtue of their birth. She must have touched a raw nerve, given that Karan Johar himself comes from a powerfulfilmi family. later, at an awards function, he teamed up with two other star kids, Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhavan, to ridicule her comment, all rounding off their mirth with the “Nepotism rocks!” remark. To be fair, they later admitted to their mistake. However, Saif Ali Khan, in an open letter, tried to qualify his apology by talking of eugenics and gene pool and the superiority of genetically-bred racehorses! Ranaut struck back saying that the debate on prevalent nepotism in the Hindi film industry cannot end with a mere apology and that actors could not be compared to racehorses. Of course they cannot, and Saif Ali Khan ought to have been careful with his words, especially when he had as formidable a contestant as Ranaut. He had no answer to her response: “Are you implying that artistic skills, hard work, experience… can be inherited through family genesIJ” She added that she should have been a farmer, if Saif Ali Khan’s logic held.
There are those who will argue that Ranaut suffers from a complex and that she takes pleasure in running down successful people merely because they have a celebrity surname. She had even on past occasions ‘slighted’ the famous Khans, saying that she had no wish to feature in their films merely for the sake of sharing screen space with them; she needed to have a meaty role. But it mustn't be forgotten that Ranaut has achieved fame and success on her own terms, and against many odds. It is indeed a task to attain heights when she has rubbed so many people the wrong way. Neither her commitment to her profession nor her competence is questionable. Therefore, what she says cannot be brushed aside. It is, after all, a fact that star children have an advantage, and that they often get chances that lesser beings wouldn't. They are also treated ‘differently'. Nonetheless, it's also a fact — and it is something Ranaut cannot deny — that having a celebrity surname does not ensure success. There are dozens of examples where star kids have sunk after being launched with great fanfare, because they simply were not up to the mark. On the other hand, those like Ranaut have made it big. The film industry worships success and has no qualms in discarding failures — even if they flaunt celebrity surnames.