Superstar insists he wants his children to stand on their own two feet
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who made it in the film industry on his own terms and with his brand of flamboyance, says he doesn’t understand the discussions on nepotism in Bollywood and hence doesn’t have an opinion on it.
“I don’t understand this (nepotism). How can I understand itIJ I am a Delhi boy, who went to Mumbai at the age of 25. There everybody loved me and accepted me. So, I don’t understand this talk,” said Khan, during promotions of his latest film When Harry Met Sejal. “I want my kids to make a name for themselves on their own feet. If they want to become marine biologists, then they should become that. If they want to become an actor or a filmmaker, then that’s also great,” he added. Khan was very categorical about the fact that he has no understanding of the word. “I don’t understand this discussion (on nepotism). When I hear the word ‘nepotism’, I feel the other person is talking about Napoleon. Even though I know enough English, still I don’t understand it and the discussion. Whether I agree or disagree — I don’t even understand it so how can I have an opinionIJ”
Khan was in the city to promote the song Phurr from his new movie. But there was an interesting twist to the proceedings. In India anything “free” works best but Sony Music India decided to take a bold step by asking listeners to pay, for a limited time, to listen to this collaboration of Pritam and Diplo. Some in the industry say it is too much to expect any immediate change in attitudes but hope people support the move that is aimed at killing piracy. listeners have to pay Rs 99 to listen to the song which has been put behind a paywall for 24 hours across till Friday.
“We had to do it with a song that people were anticipating. Most people anticipate a movie, a film’s opening date, but they don’t know when the next song is coming out and how it’s going to be. Only when it releases do they decide whether they like it or not. There is very little build-up to the release of Bollywood songs,” said Shridhar Subramaniam, president, Sony Music Entertainment-India and Middle East. But in the case of Phurr, because of the Diplo collaboration, a lot of Indians knew that the song was on the way. And that is why, Subramaniam said, the Bollywood track was selected for the paywall experiment.
“Some of the artistes feel that way because they don’t make enough money from recording, it’s only from performances. So, you can see an explosion in live shows, but not so much in recording. Indie music bands will perform and not really record because of this particular imbalance,” he said.