Shilpa Shetty Kundra: Nepotism can’t be bigger than your fate

Korea, Japan and China gives us confidence that audiences will come back to theatres,” says exhibitor-distributor Akshaye Rathi.

As trade analyst Taran Adarsh puts it: “No one has any clarity about the [Covid19] situation, so you can’t really blame the makers if they are moving to next year. And no clarity vis-à-vis when theatres will reopen is also making things worse. Plus, you don’t know whether people will turn up. So, there are too many question marks.”

Aggressive discussions about the unfair practices prevalent in the Hindi film industry seem to have become the new normal, with terms such as nepotism, insiders vs outsiders, level playing field being used everywhere — from social media to prime-time debates on news channels. Actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra acknowledges the anger that many are feeling towards the film industry, and she says she respects the various opinions on the matter.

“There’s a lot of pent up anger in people. And I feel the only place to vent it out is social media. Most of them are faceless; those who have the face and strength have spoken. To each to his own. I’m not somebody who sits and judges a person who has an opinion,” says the actor, adding that a person’s opinion “may or may not be someone else’s reality”.

While talking about her Bollywood journey which started with Baazigar in 1993, Kundra says she has no complaints. Despite the ups and downs and being a true blue outsider, she says she achieved a lot. “I’ve really relied on fate. I came from a non-film background and I worked very hard in my life. If someone says that nepotism is bigger than fate, I’d disagree. It can’t be. We all come with our destiny. If you have the strength and will power to fight and put in that amount and work, no one can stop you from achieving success,” the 45-year-old asserts.

The actor goes on to share that there’s something which has kept her going all these years and helped her not become hopeless. “You need to realise that it may take time and not most people have that much strength or patience. I’m a Sai baba bhakt and I always say that ‘shraddha aur saburi’ is what’s most important. One has to have faith as well as patience. There’s nothing in the world that can be unachievable,” she says, before adding, “Now that’s my point of view, not everybody has to agree with it.”

Amid debates about camps in Bollywood, actor Preeti Jhangiani agrees they exist and, at times, obstruct talent. While it’s difficult to deal with, she insists it isn’t impossible either. “It depends on how you are as a person. Groupism exists at every place of work. I’ve done a few multi

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