Why is only Bollywood accused of nepotism: Naseeruddin Shah

The subject of nepotism clearly won’t die out soon. This time, it’s actor

Naseeruddin Shah (left) who has shared his thoughts on the topic. He doesn’t agree that nepotism pertains only to Bollywood. The 68-year-old actor feels that any parent would support their kids and that singling out people from the entertainment industry is not justified.

“I don’t understand why only the film industry has been accused of this,” he says. “People in other industries do it as well. You don’t see people creating a major debate when businessmen put their kids in charge of their business,” he says. “Or you don’t say anything to politicians who help their kids get into politics? I don’t think it’s fair to only talk about nepotism in the film industry, when its prevalent in other places as well,” adds the actor, whose sons Vivan Shah and Imaad Shah are actors. Vivan starred in Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year (2014) and Priyanka Chopra’s Saat Khoon Maaf (2011) while Imaad has starred in Dhobi Ghat (2011) and M Cream.

Nepotism debate was sparked by actor Kangana Ranaut in March, who accused filmmaker Karan Johar of working with only “star kids”. Since then the film industry has been divided on the topic and many have slammed the industry for its bias towards actors whose parents have a strong standing in Bollywood.

“It’s a very natural thing to do, right? I mean which parent wouldn’t want to help their own kid get a better way than they had in the industry? If one knows how things are in the industry, and your children want to be part of the same industry, it’s quite natural that you would not want them repeat the same mistakes,” he says.

You don’t see people creating a major debate when businessmen put their kids in charge of their business NASEERUDDIN SHAH, ACTOR

PHOTO: SATISH BATE/HT