Insider Alia Bhatt and Outsider Taapsee Pannu Give Their Take on Both Sides of the Nepotism Coin

Whenever IIFA awards 2017 will be remembered, the one thing that'll always be mentioned would be the notorious 'nepotism rocks' chants. *cringes* 

This is one topic where Bollywood still hasn't been able to decide its stand. A lot of celebs came forward and shared their views on nepotism, but they turned to be cringe-worthy, dripping with privilege, or at best, vague. Ironically, most of the opinions on nepotism were voices of those who had benefitted from it, rather than struggled against it. 

Adding to the list of stars who have spoken about nepotism, Alia Bhatt recently shared hers with a leading daily. Being diplomatic as ever, she agreed that the practice still exists in the industry and that it would have broken her heart if she had to bear the brunt of it.

Alia said, "Of late, I have realised that there is no need to defend the nepotistic nature of the industry because it does exist. The reason why it has become an emotional debate is because it is difficult for those who don’t get a chance. If I was on the other side, I would be heartbroken. I may have felt the same way. Yes, it does exist everywhere, but this is the only business where there’s no fixed funda. You need to be at the right place, at the right time. For instance, if you want to be a doctor, you study, give your examination and get a job. In the film business, you can do whatever you want, but there has to be that X-factor that people talk about. There are so many people who come from nowhere and make it big purely on the basis of their presence and what they bring to the screen."

She added, "An XYZ person can be very good looking and some other can be marginally good looking, but the latter can be a bigger star or loved more because of their talent. There are no hard and fast rules as such, so I totally get the emotional upheaval. As far as I am concerned, I won’t even say that I was more prepared because I was so and so’s daughter. I just got very lucky with my first try (Student Of The Year), but you can only get lucky with that first chance. After that only bhagwaan bachaye."

On the other hand, Taapsee Pannu, the Soorma actor, recently told PTI that she lost out on projects because she had no godfather. She said, "It is not a shocker to me that a film went out of my hands, not because I was not credible, but because I was not so-and-so's daughter or sister or dating so-and-so."

"I have got replaced. I am moving towards that zone, where I don't want to be a replaceable name. This is my goal. I want to hear from the industry that, 'you are the only one who can do this, we will not go ahead with the project, if you don't do this'.... And I want to hear from the audience that, 'it is worth watching a film that I have done'. I am slowly heading towards that," she added.

Taapsee feels that there might not be any second for her, if, her films fail to impress the audience. She said, "Nobody is going to keep giving me chances even after two-three of my films don't do well. I am aware of it and that is why I will not feel safe and secure. I have accepted that. But inspite of this, whatever little success I have achieved, it is so thrilling and exciting that it keeps me going."

Albeit their somewhat skewed views, it's a positive trend to see Bollywood openly address the nepotism issue, given that it's rampant in the industry. And although outsiders like Taapsee speak up about it often, it's a relief to see someone like Alia finally understand the implications of their privilege. What do you think about this debate? Let us know in the comments.